


The Witch Slayer

by Canttouchthis



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 30,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26566450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Canttouchthis/pseuds/Canttouchthis
Summary: When Hermione is chosen as the next vampire slayer, only Draco Malfoy seems to have the answers. A secret is revealed, an unlikely friendship forms and the magical world will never be the same…
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 17
Kudos: 57





	1. The (witch) slayer

**Author's Note:**

> A quick comment on timelines - Season 1 of Buffy = Book 1 of Harry Potter, and so on. While there is an overarching plot/story line, this is intended to be a fun/light story. Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter nor Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

_Chapter 1: The (witch) slayer_

4th Year - March - Hogwarts

Draco hadn't _meant_ to eavesdrop. Later, he would explain that he was minding his own business, scanning the shelves with his helpful notice-me-not charm with the sole desire to be _left alone_. But then he heard a few choice words and couldn't _really_ help his actions.

"I know it was a dream but it felt so _real_. They were vampires! And there was a girl fighting them – " he whipped his head around, all blood draining from his face as he heard those words from the queen of swot, Hermione Granger herself. She was doing a poor job of whispering (though to be fair to her, his charm kept her from realizing just how close he was). "Look – I _broke my bed!_ Something is wrong."

Draco watched the trio for another moment – Potter wearing his typical mask of concern, Weasley looking bored and dubious. They were surrounded by books and Granger was randomly pointing at _something_ with passion. Unable to contain himself any longer, he grabbed a seat at their table, causing the 3 to do some sort of awkward jump and Draco to roll his eyes in condescension.

"When did this start?" He asked Hermione, looking at her with an intensity she didn't recognize. Potter and Weasley immediately pointed their wands at him, but there must have been _something_ in his eyes because Hermione asked them to relax.

"What do you know?" She asked him, her hand gripping the table. Draco pointedly looked down at the table, a piece of the solid stone smashed in by her hand and looked back up at her with eye brows high.

"When did this start?" He asked again, the pair were locked in some sort of battle of wills.

She lost – her desire for knowledge overtaking her skepticism of the Slytherin. "2 days ago." Without warning, Draco whipped a cell phone out of his pocket and started dialing.

"What's that?" "You can't use muggle technology here!" and some other exasperation came out of the trio which Draco studiously ignored as he stood up, pacing as the phone slowly rang.

_"Hello?"_ The voice gave him a moment's relief.

"Giles – is Buffy OK?" He asked.

_"Draco? Yes – she's fine. She's at school – I saw her just this morning."_

Draco gave an audible exhale and sat back down, vaguely aware of the trio's intense stares on him.

"What about Faith?"

_"She passed away two days ago in the hospital – why did you call Draco?"_

Draco paused – looking at Hermione thoughtfully, "I think I found the next Slayer – I'll call you back."

_"Draco-"_ Giles began but Draco had shut his phone already.

"I can tell you what's going on – what I think is going on. But you cannot tell anyone." He told her.

She looked dubious, "What the hell is going on Malfoy?"

Draco shut his eyes for a moment, letting the utter ridiculousness of the situation sink in. He had to tell her – or her next stop would probably be the headmaster's office or the hospital wing. He grabbed some powder out of his satchel, sprinkled it on the table and mumbled a few words causing the space outside of their table to appear fuzzy.

"What did you do Malfoy?" Potter asked, his wand back in his hand. Draco put his wand on the table and his hands up in the universal sign of surrender.

"I put this table just out of phase with the rest of the library. Until I lift the spell, no time will pass outside of this table. This is the only way I can guarantee we will not be overheard." Draco explained intensely.

Hermione frowned, "I've never heard of a spell like that."

Draco smiled – a genuine smile in a way one does when recounting a pleasant memory, "there's a lot more to magic than is taught here at Hogwarts," he began. "You,", he looked at Hermione, "are a Vampire Slayer."

"A what?" (from Potter) "No she's not!" (From Weasley) "But that's a myth!" (From Hermione).

Draco smiled again, but this time it was more predatory. "What do you know of the Vampire Slayer?"

Helpless to show off her knowledge, Hermione responded, "A girl whose cursed with strength and other supernatural abilities," she paused for a moment, "but from the few references I've seen, the slayer is referred to as a killer – someone who kills without thought or mercy and eventually goes crazy. There are no documented slayers so I assumed it was a myth." She was now visibly shaken.

"It's not a myth – the slayer is a creature – it takes over teenage girls and turns them into monsters. They're rare though." Ron started, "Look – Malfoy – I don't know if this is some ploy to get rid of Hermione but she is **not** a slayer!"

Malfoy sat back with a soft smile, contemplating his next statement, "I have no desire to 'get rid' of anyone. The slayer is very real but she is nothing like either of you describe." Hermione looked about ready to argue back when a pointed look from Draco convinced her to stop.

"Into each generation a slayer is born – one girl in all the world to fight the vampires, demons and the creatures of darkness. When one dies, another is born" he started, "She is not a monster, or cursed. She is chosen." Draco now smiled. Hermione looked contemplative. Harry looked dubious. Ron looked angry.

"What are you playing at?" Ron asked, "Is this some sort of pureblood conspiracy?" Completely ignoring the fact he, too, was a pureblood.

"That," Draco started, grabbing his temples, "literally makes no sense."

"Why should we believe you?" Harry asked.

Draco paused for a moment before reaching into his satchel and pulling out a couple of worn pieces of paper and placing them in front of Hermione. She glanced at him before smoothing them over, gasping.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"Do you recognize anyone?" Draco asked knowingly.

"Yes – she was in my dream." She pointed to the short blond girl, smiling happily in the photo. But what really shocked her was Draco standing next to her, "How do you know her?"

"She's my sister." Draco let the bomb drop and sat back.

"You have a sister?" (From Harry) "Your sister was a slayer?" (From Hermione, somewhat sadly actually) "But your sister is dead!" (From Ron)

"Yes I have a sister, she is the slayer – it's complicated, and no, she's not dead, that's just what we wanted everyone to believe." He answered the trio's questions ending with eyebrows raised at Ron's lack of social skills.

"But I remember it was a whole scandal – your sister was supposedly a squib and then went 'missing'." Ron reiterated, using air quotes on the word missing, obviously trying to reconcile some rumor he heard once a long time ago with this new information from an admittedly dubious source.

"Buffy _is_ a squib. We found out when the watcher's council found her and told my parents she was a potential slayer," Draco started – knowing this is where things would start getting dicey, "What I'm going to tell you next is something we've kept purposefully hidden from the wizarding world for pretty much my whole life – and for good reason. I'm only telling you all now because you," he pointed to Hermione, "for some reason have been called."

Again, they looked skeptical, but this was too juicy to ignore. They nodded their agreement and Draco continued, "The watcher's council is the group that monitors slayers – one of their tasks is to identify and train potential slayers. Now – and here's where it gets complicated – the watchers and the British ministry of magic had a falling out some time ago. At that point, witches were no longer able to be identified as potentials by the Watchers.

"So when a watcher showed up at our house 15 years ago when Buffy was just 4 years old and told my parents she was a potential slayer, he also got to tell my parents that their daughter was a squib." Draco explained taking a breath to make sure everyone was keeping up – well, at least Hermione was, "My parents were under the same impression as Ron on slayers. As far as they were aware, they were inhuman creatures. BUT – my parents had never even heard of the concept of a potential slayer-"

"Because the watchers council and ministry had cut ties," Hermione cut in, excitement clear on her face.

Draco did everything to avoid rolling his eyes (but failed), "Yes. So my parents were more or less caught off guard. The watcher was able to convince my parents that the wizarding world was holding on to some old, medieval interpretation of the slayer. However, what they didn't realize was what a precarious position my parents were in at the time." He paused for dramatic effect.

"Because 15 years ago," he started slowly, waiting for the eureka moment that finally showed up on Hermione's face.

"15 years ago, we were still at war!" Hermione exclaimed. This got the attention of Ron and Harry for whatever reason, even though this story really had nothing to do with Voldemort.

"Exactly. So my parents couldn't just have some stuffy muggle hanging around training Buffy – and they weren't about to let them take her like that wanted. They faked her death and moved her to California – where we've more or less lived a double life." He explained, leaning back in his seat casually. "Oh – and they obliviated the shit out of that watcher."

"You're trying to tell me your parents have been living a double life with your supposedly dead squib sister in America for the last 15 years?" Ron stated with a surprisingly astute summary of the situation at hand.

Malfoy rolled his eyes, blatantly this time, "Yes. Not sure if you ever noticed that my mom spends in awful lot of time at our 'estate in France'. But yes, we have made sure that no one in the wizarding world knows she exists."

"Until now." Hermione stated thoughtfully. "You're either messing with us – which I do not want to believe, or you're taking a big risk talking to us."

"I need you to believe me – no – I need you to trust me." Draco pleaded, his eyes softening, "If you've been called, there has to be a reason. As far as I'm aware, there hasn't been a witch called in about 80 years – and before that it was over a hundred. Witches are rarely called as slayers."

"Shouldn't we go to Dumbledore about this?" Harry asked – a reasonable suggestion really. "This doesn't seem like something a group of 4th years should be dealing with."

Malfoy sighed – not surprised to have reached this point in the discussion, "Granger, as the slayer, is entitled to tell who she wants about who she is. But don't forget, as far as the wizarding world is concerned, slayers are malicious creatures."

Hermione's eyes narrowed, "There's something more isn't there?"

"I don't trust Dumbledore." Draco stated, his arms crossing over his chest.

"Why?" One of them (or maybe all?) asked.

"I have my reasons." He responded – hoping that was the end. The last thing he wanted was for the trio to embark on a holy crusade on the headmaster's behalf.

"Fine." Hermione said with a nod, "If we don't tell Dumbledore, what am I supposed to do?"

Draco breathed a sigh of relief and felt he had the first victory, "The man I was just on the phone with, Rupert Giles, is Buffy's watcher. I trust him implicitly. I'll call him and hopefully he will come up with some sort of plan to train you. And figure out why you have been called."

"Speaking of that, how did you get a cell phone to work at Hogwarts?" Hermione's earlier curiosity returned.

Draco groaned, "Focus. It just does. Magic. You can ask Giles," he took a deep centering breath, "OK. I'm going to break the spell – then walk away and make my phone calls. I'll owl when there's more information or a plan – OK?"

Hermione nodded in agreement. Harry and Ron looked skeptical and overall seemed to not approve of the whole thing but seemed to realize this was Hermione's ordeal and their opinion/feelings/input didn't really matter.

"Wait – Malfoy – a few more things..." Hermione interrupted, catching Draco right as he was about to break the spell, "How am I a slayer if your sister is still a slayer? What do you mean by 'more to magic than they teach at Hogwarts'? What are the 'other' creatures and demons you've been referring to? If your sister is a squib and you live some weird muggle double life why do you act like a dick to everyone? Why did your parents not just send Buffy away when the watcher first came?"

It was just Draco's luck that the swottiest nerd in school would be a slayer. He braced himself for a long night ahead…


	2. The watcher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I own neither Buffy nor Harry Potter

_4th Year – April - Hogwarts_

“Malfoy, what is this place?” Hermione asked after following Malfoy’s odd but specific directions and meeting him in some room she had never seen before on the 7th floor.

She had appeared, much to her surprise, in what she imagined a muggle dojo would look like. That is, except for the array of medieval weapons on one wall and an oddly out of place overfilled shelf of books. A soft wood colored laminate colored the floor and a large mat sat in the center of the room. Of course, she being who she was, gravitated towards the books.

“This is the room of requirement,” he explained, “It turns into whatever you need it to be. I explained I needed a place to train a slayer and this is what it came up with.” He waved around the room, appearing unimpressed. 

Following the revelations in the library as well as many an owl back and forth with Giles and Buffy (for both Draco and Hermione), it was tentatively agreed by all parties that:  
1\. Hermione was in fact a slayer  
2\. The trio would not go to Dumbledore…yet  
3\. Draco would be a temporary watcher to Hermione, providing some training until she would be able to meet with Buffy and Giles over the summer

This last point was, unsurprisingly, the highest point of contention. The trio continued to struggle to reconcile the pompous ‘My father will hear about this’ version of Draco with the ‘My sister is the slayer and I’m not actually prejudiced it’s just an act’ version that had emerged. The one piece of comfort was that both versions were an asshole. Just in different ways.

“These are amazing – where did these come from?” Hermione asked, her hand gently skimming the books, which appeared to all be old, priceless, and in languages other than English.

“Not sure – I assume the library? I doubt the room can procure things outside of the castle.” Draco seemed unbothered by this.

“What?” Hermione asked, eyes wide, “Are you telling me we just stole all of these books from the library?!”

Draco rolled his eyes, “No – the room provided them – so technically if anyone stole them the room stole them.”

“Well we can’t just take them!” Hermione exclaimed, “if we need books, we can just identify them here, and then go to the library and check them out.”

“Granger – don’t be ridiculous. I don’t even know where we would find half these books. And I know you – you need books because they’re a security blanket or some other rubbish to you. So you’re going to read these books and be happy.” Draco’s voice rose just slightly, “This room and the library are both a part of the magic of this castle – if the books were provided, I’m sure in some way the library is aware. This castle is sentient you know.” Only then did Draco notice the small smile playing out on Hermione’s face. “Are you messing with me?”

“Just a little.” Hermione replied, her smile growing just a little, “You’re always such an ass – I wanted to remind you I’m not a complete idiot. You may know more about all of this slayer stuff than me but I do have some rudimentary understanding of how the castle operates.”

“Well played Granger. Are you ready to get started then? Oh – and we will not be starting with books. Those will be your homework.” Draco smirked.

Draco started by explaining the regiment he (and Giles, of course) worked out, “We’ll need to train at least one hour a day. We can use this space in here – it will consistently adjust to our needs. I would like us to eventually go out to the forest at some point.” Draco paused, pleasantly surprised by Hermione’s short nod and lack of complaint, “When we are here, we’ll focus on three things – weapons, fighting skills and demons. You’ll find you have an intuitive ability to manage all 3 but to stay alive, you need more than just an intuitive ability – you need to become an expert.”

Hermione twitched, “Should I take notes?” She was in full academic mode.

Draco scrunched his face and counted to three in his head, “No Granger – you don’t need to take notes. Just pay attention. Please.”   
They started with fighting – one of the more urgent tasks they needed to accomplish was to make sure Hermione stopped breaking things. Since the library, Harry and Ron had to cover for a broken desk, shattered cauldron and even a door she managed to unintentionally knock off its hinges. They soon discovered the room had some sort of fighting mannequins that allowed for Hermione to test her strength on something a bit more resilient.

Hermione initially relied on her new found brute strength – finding a simple punch or kick would knock the doll off course. As the lesson continued, the doll increased in skill and Hermione soon found herself knocked back.

“What the hell Malfoy?” She yelled, massaging the left side of her face where the mannequin had managed to get a punch in.

“Lesson 1 – you may be strong but so is your enemy. You need to be more than just strong – you need to be fast and you need to think.” Draco explained, keeping his hands behind his back and notably not helping her up. 

Hermione shut her eyes, allowing the moment of anger to pass. Never in her life had she been accused of not thinking. But she nonetheless got back up and prepared to fight again. This time, when the doll came at her she leaned in the opposite direction, rolling her torso and kicking her leg out where she realized it would be exposed, knocking it to the side. She was about to smirk in self-congratulations when it came back, faster even and before she knew it she was stuck on the defensive, constantly guarding her face and stomach – each time she thought she would have a chance to land a punch or a kick the mannequin would get there that much faster. She was getting frustrated when she heard from Draco “Think fast!” and with barely a glance in his direction, she caught the ax he had thrown her.

Without thinking, she ducked to avoid jab and spun, decapitating the doll in one swift motion. She stood, breathing heavy and watched the doll fall dramatically to the floor.

She heard a dramatic slow clap from her left, “well done. You just defeated a piece of plastic.” Draco drawled.

“How did I know what to do with this?” Hermione asked, looking at the ax still in her hand. 

“As I mentioned before, as the slayer, you have a natural intuition with weapons. Similar to how you know how to fight, you know how to use them. But here you’re going to practice so you can get good at using them.”

“Where did you learn all this?” Hermione asked.

“I’m not sure if you ever noticed but I don’t exactly have friends here,” he paused, she thought for a moment to refute him but realized she didn’t exactly have any empirical data at her disposal, “When Buffy was called, I was-“

“Jealous?” Hermione suggested.

Draco shot her an annoyed glare, “Curious. We had copies of the watcher journals and I would spend the holidays asking Giles all the annoying questions.”

“Makes you wonder.” Hermione stated unhelpfully.

“What?” 

“I mean, what are the odds? You have a sister who’s a slayer, and you have the temperament and curiosity to learn what you need to help someone like me. And you happen to figure out I’m the slayer.” Now she looked a touch skeptical.

“Don’t forget, there are forces involved in this who do not believe in chance. You were called for a reason. I’m sure one day that will be made clear,” Draco drawled, “in the meantime, let’s try again. This time with a sword.”

The session continued. While Hermione could do without Draco’s incessant sarcasm and seeming inability to provide positive enforcement, she had to admit she did think she was getting better. At what though she had no idea.

When they were finally done, after making some comments heavily implying Hermione stunk of sweat and desperately needed a shower, he handed her 3 books. “For homework – read them and I’ll have more for you when you are done.”

“What are they?” Hermione asked, her eyes skating over the cryptic leather covers.

“One of them is a watcher’s diary – as part of their duties, watchers are expected to document their slayer. The demons they kill, the ones they don’t, and ultimately how they die.” Draco’s cold words made Hermione's eyes go wide.

“How they die?” Hermione reiterated.

“Slayers have a very short life span.” Draco said shortly, “this is why you have to train.” 

Hermione simply nodded – recalling Draco’s story of how Buffy herself died and was brought back and then the short time Kendra and Faith had been slayers. “The other books are to familiarize yourself with the non-wand wielding magical world. One is on vampires, demons and other creatures. You’ve had exposure to some of that here but this is much more extensive. You will want to know how to recognize these creatures and how to kill them.

“The last book is on earth magic. You’ve seen me perform a few basic spells. But I have to warn you – I have been practicing this since I was a child – do not expect to be proficient overnight.” He warned, condescendingly of course.

Hermione rolled her eyes but nodded, obviously accepting the challenge. If there was one thing she could do, it was beat Draco Malfoy of course.


	3. The (other) slayer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own neither BTVS nor Harry Potter

_Summer between 4_ _th_ _and 5_ _th_ _year – Sunnydale, CA_

_Part 1 – Let's go patrol!_

"So we did this spell and it basically gave me ultra super powers and I defeated the creepy Frankenstein demon." Buffy finished explaining, twirling her stake unconsciously.

Hermione had taken a portkey to Sunnydale a week into her Summer holidays. After a warning from Draco that the Americans lacked his sophistication and manners (which of course received an epic eye roll from Hermione), he introduced her to his sister and her friends who apparently were the self-proclaimed Scooby gang.

Hermione _loved_ them. She felt a genuine kindred bond with Buffy and found her friends to be delightful. She was amazed at how _not_ Malfoy like they were. But it was also obvious how much they adored him and vice versa.

The first night there, Hermione joined them on a nightly patrol. Given that Hermione had only previously trained in the room of requirement, she was admittedly nervous (as was her watcher though he denied it).

"Does that sort of thing happen to you a lot?" Hermione asked, her eyes focused on the small blond acting as though her story was something that was not-a-big-deal.

"Well – we get a lot of little bads but typically once or twice a year we get something _real_ bad." Buffy explained and then shushed her.

The rest of the gang along with Draco were about 10 feet behind them, back up if needed. Hermione felt her adrenaline on high – the anticipation of _actually killing something_ making her feel…things.

"Well what do we have here?" She heard the man come out of the trees just before she saw him.

"Oh hi!" Buffy started, holding her hands behind her back to hide the stake and smiling innocently. Hermione had been forewarned of her sister slayer's antics and did her best to play along. "My friend and I got lost in the woods," Buffy looked legitimately scared and Hermione was impressed by her acting chops, "can you help us find our way out?" Now she looked hopeful (and naive).

"Oh, I'm sure I can help you!" Now the man was a couple feet away from them and his face, finally visible in the moonlight, was the horrible demonic appearance Hermione had only read about.

Hermione took an instinctive step back, taking a deep breath and leveling herself before rejoining her friend. "Oh what great big teeth you have!" She heard Buffy squeal.

"Aren't you going to run little girl?" The man asked, hand grabbing Buffy's shoulder who immediately grabbed the vampire by the neck and flipped him over.

"You were supposed to say 'all the better to eat you with my dear'." Buffy said angrily – then, keeping her foot on the vampire's shoulder, threw Hermione the stake, "Here – you take this one – get a feel for where the heart is."

Hermione took a deep breath and did as instructed – bringing the stake down and stabbing the Vampire in the heart but – nothing happened.

"Try again – you missed." She heard Draco's typical patronizing drawl from behind her.

"Be nice little brother – it's not like you stabbed a vampire in the heart your first time out." Buffy berated, "Hermione – don't listen to him."

"I never do." Hermione confirmed and stabbed the Vampire (successfully!). She watched with a feeling of satisfaction as the vampire transformed into dust. "That was fun!" She said, oddly full of adrenaline after the whole experience.

"Yeah – it is." Buffy said with a bit of nostalgia.

"Buffy," Hermione turned around to see Xander jogging up, "the little red riding hood bit-"

"Not my best?" Buffy asked, her face frowning in disappointment.

"I mean – it wasn't your worst! Just – don't get complacent with the quips." He finished sagely.

"Is quipping with Vampires an important part of patrol?" Hermione asked him.

Xander looked thoughtful before turning to her, "I mean, technically, no. But really, what is destroying the creatures of darkness if you don't have a little fun?"

Hermione looked worried. Xander patted her on the shoulder, "I've seen you banter with the little Summers. I'm sure you'll be just fine!"

"HEY – that's little Malfoy." Draco attempted weakly.

They went on in a similar pattern – Hermione managed to fight _and_ stake a vampire on her own _and_ not get bitten. They were trekking back to the Summers' house when Hermione sensed a vampire heading their way. Full of confidence from her earlier successes, she grabbed the fiend.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked, an odd statement for a vampire having a stake to his chest.

"Hermione – you can let Spike go. We don't stake the neutered vampire." Buffy explained, giving an annoyed glance at Spike. Hermione reluctantly stepped back, vaguely recalling the vampire from Buffy's earlier stories.

"Oh! Is this the Witch Slayer?" Spike asked while lighting up a cigarette.

"What did you call her?" Draco asked, annoyed.

"Witch Slayer? I've overheard these guys talking about her. Ever since Faith." Spike (awkwardly) made a dramatic finger to his throat gesture to indicate _died._

"She's a vampire slayer not a witch slayer!" Draco rebutted.

"Yeah but – she's a slayer and she's a witch – so witch slayer." Xander interjected – obviously feeling very defensive of the nickname.

"I think Draco's point is that the word Witch coming before the word slayer implies that I slay witches – not that I'm a slayer who's a witch." Hermione tried to explain.

"But Witch Slayer sounds a lot cooler." Buffy confirmed with a shrug.

"This is why the wizarding world is afraid of slayers. Because of muggles who come up with these sayings because they sound _cool_." Draco bemoaned.

"Oh poor baby brother." Buffy belittled to which Draco responded by sticking out his tongue in a "na na na boo boo" fashion.

"It's so weird to see him like this." Hermione commented to Xander.

"Like what?"

"Just – normal I guess? I mean – he's the same ass he is at school but he's comfortable and – friendly I guess." Hermione shrugged.

"What's it like with him at magic school?" Xander asked, brushing his hand up in a rainbow motion at the word 'magic' for extra effect.

"Well – up until this past year, I would have said he was my best friend's nemesis," Hermione tried to explain, "although looking back on it, he was painfully over the top in his level of animosity.

"I guess now that I know him better – and why he acts as he does – I think he's just lonely at school. It's nice that you all are so welcoming to him." Hermione remarked with a slight smile.

"Buffy and Draco are kind of like a package deal. We know we have to put up with him. He was a little annoying when he was younger but he's really grown up the last couple of years." Xander remarked with a shrug, as if it was obvious.

Buffy fell back to talk to Hermione, "So – do you have any good stories about my brother from school?" Hermione couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

"Granger – don't even think about it." Draco said to her – his eyes flashing with some sort of _warning_. Hermione gave him a 'really?! What are you going to do to me?' look in response.

"Well – let me tell you about the time I slapped him…"

* * *

_Part 2 – Let's do research!_

"This is so booorrrringgg." Buffy complained, slamming her face into the books for dramatic effect.

Buffy along with Hermione and Draco sat in Giles' living room pouring over books. While Buffy continued to moan, Hermione was elated to be doing something she was unequivocally _good_ at.

"Buffy – can you describe your dream again?" Hermione asked, ignoring the older slayers' antics.

Buffy huffed, "OK – so it was big – like 6 foot 6 maybe? But _big_ and – red? Definitely had horns. Maybe 3 horns?"

Hermione looked at her, thinking intently, "How can you be so sure this was a slayer dream?"

"Because it was?" Buffy responded with an awkward shrug, "haven't you had any slayer dreams?"

"No," Hermione furrowed her eyebrows in worry, "well – when I was first called, I had dreams about you and the other slayers but that was it."

"OK – well do you remember anything different about those dreams?" Buffy asked, very excited to have a small distraction from the pain of research.

"Well – they were quite vivid and I was able to clearly recollect them the next day." Hermione noted, her face still painted with worry over why she wasn't having more slayer dreams.

"I think it's the witch thing." Draco interjected unhelpfully.

"What?" Either (or both) Buffy and Hermione remarked.

"I think being at Hogwarts and being a witch has impacted how her slayer nature has evolved." Draco explained with an eye roll, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"How very astute of you Draco." Giles' remarked, handing Draco a cup of tea, "I believe he's correct. I've done a lot of research into this situation. Given your unique situation, I am not surprised you are not experiencing slayer dreams like others would."

"Well that doesn't seem fair." Buffy pouted, "Why do I have to deal with them and she doesn't?"

"If it makes you feel better, my best friend has been targeted by an evil dark wizard so I typically put my life on the line once a year to make sure he doesn't get killed." Hermione explained with a shrug.

"That makes me feel a _little_ better." Buffy explained, still pouting dramatically, "Is this the same Woldyworts Mom and Dad used to throw down with?"

Hermione laughed as Draco and Giles massaged their temples at Buffy's need to continually butcher the English language.

"Yes Buffy." Draco explained, amazed at how _not seriously_ Buffy continued to think of Voldemort.

"Didn't he **just** come back from the dead?" Buffy questioned, now confused.

"Well," Hermione paused, trying to figure out how to explain, "He wasn't ever _technically_ dead – just body-less I guess. So when we were first years, he was possessing our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. He attempted to steal the Sorcerer's Stone – basically a magic stone that allows the user to live forever. Harry, Ron and I were able to thwart him. Then second year, he was able to nearly achieve corporeality by speaking to a girl through a diary. Before that though he tricked her into releasing his basilisk," Buffy started giggling at the phrase 'his basilisk' and Hermione paused to give Buffy a stern look, "I was able to figure out what was going on but was petrified by the basilisk before I could do anything. Voldemort gave us third year off but Harry's godfather escaped from Azkaban – it's a long story. Then this past year Voldemort managed to retake human form but was luckily unsuccessful at killing Harry. He did kill another of our classmates which is quite sad of course…"

Hermione could practically see the gears turning in Buffy's head, "Moldywarts wrote in a _diary_?" Buffy asked.

Hermione frowned, "Well I guess – but he used dark magic on it."

"But still…that's pretty embarrassing. No wonder he went dark." Buffy surmised, "So your school is basically a death trap?"

"Yes." Hermione and Draco responded at the same time – each squinting at the other in annoyance.

"Draco – why don't we just fake your death too and you can just stay here with us?" Buffy asked, "seems safer?"

"To be fair – only Hermione and her idiotic friends are typically in danger. And besides Cedric Diggory, no one has died in our four years at Hogwarts. What was the death rate at your high school again?" Draco asked Buffy rhetorically, "besides – you blew up your high school."

"You blew up your high school!?" Hermione asked – stressed by the idea of a place of learning being destroyed but also fairly certain there was a good story in there.

As usual, Buffy acted nonchalant, "well there was this big demon." She held her hands above her head.

"A demon was attempting 'ascension' – meaning it would take on the form of an _old_ demon and likely destroy half of the United States. She had to blow up the school to get rid of it." Giles' helpfully explained, giving Buffy a 'disappointed' look. "Can we please focus on the demon from Buffy's dream? If the rest of the dream holds true, then it looks like it will be trying to open the hell mouth sometime before the next full moon."

"I'm never telling you about my dreams again…" promised Buffy.

* * *

_Part 3: Let's go to LA!_

"Why are we going to LA again?" Hermione asked for the 8th time.

Draco sighed in exasperation. They had been on the bus for almost an hour and it was obvious the witch was getting nervous, "Angel asked for some help and Buffy didn't want to make Riley uncomfortable so she asked you to go."

"Yes – I know that! But why did he ask for help?" Hermione asked (again).

"And I told you – I don't know!" Draco huffed and then proceeded to face the window, obstinately ignoring the slayer.

Finally, the pair arrived at their stop. A short taxi ride later and they found themselves at the address they had been given.

"Is this the right place?" Hermione asked, preparing to knock at the apartment door.

Draco shrugged, "I think Buffy mentioned they had an office but it was blown up?"

Before they had a chance to knock the door swung open, "Drakey!" They heard and Cordelia wrapped Draco in a hug before stepping back to allow Draco and Hermione to walk through. "And you're not Buffy?" She stated bluntly.

"No – I'm Hermione?" She put her hand out.

"Oh! The witch slayer!" Hermione and Draco gave each other twin 'looks' of annoyance, "I'm Cordelia. This is my apartment – we usually have an office but not anymore." She stated this loudly, obviously annoyed by this fact. Once the door was closed, a tall man in a trench coat came out.

"Draco! Is that you? You're so big!" The man came and gave an uncomfortable Draco an awkward squeeze of his cheeks.

"Seriously?" Draco asked, "Did you go evil again or something?"

Angel laughed, "No – Buffy called and told me to give you a hard time. Hi," he now turned towards Hermione, "I'm Angel."

Hermione had been uncomfortable ever since walking through the threshold and now she knew why. While she seemed less likely to get slayer dreams, they noticed the 3rd night out on patrol Hermione had an unnaturally (or perhaps, supernaturally?) good sense for Vampires. Angel's presence made her inherently uncomfortable. She tried to get over it. "I'm Hermione." She gave a soft wave, trying to appear friendly.

"Ohhh the witch slayer!" Angel said excitedly.

"She's a slayer who happens to be a witch." Draco droned, "or if you must you can call her a witch who slays. Or slaying witch."

"Those don't sound as good." Cordelia remarked.

"Bloody Americans." Draco droned, "So – what did you all need help with?"

Angel gave him an odd smile, "It's just so great to see you all grown up!" He remarked to an ever-reddening Draco. After an awkward pause he began, "It's nothing too crazy – just a particularly large nest of vampires a friend of ours, Gunn encountered. We did some recon and I didn't quite like the odds." He explained.

For the first time, Hermione was a little nervous, "But I mean – it's only me – what all can I do?"

Draco looked at her, obviously trying to communicate something which she did not get. It was Cordelia who spoke, "Aren't you the slayer hon?"

"Yes." Hermione confirmed, nervous.

"This is her first time slaying without Buffy." Draco explained which seemed to make sense to Angel and Cordelia. He pulled Hermione to the side, "Don't be scared – Angel is very old and very good at this. You are going to be _fine_ and I'm going to be there."

Hermione smiled and nodded, oddly surprised at the relief this brought her.

Later that night, Hermione found herself a bumbling sack of energy as she prepared. She met Gunn who gave her a wary look (she assumed based on her age and size) as well as the former watcher Wesley Wyndam-Price (who Draco did not seem a big fan of). She was mildly impressed as she watched the team prepare and realized it would not just be them, but also an array of weapons.

As they prepared to break down the doors to the warehouse where the vampires had been squatting, Hermione felt a surge of pure adrenaline as she kicked and staked her way around, vaguely aware of Draco providing cover for her with some sort of flame thrower.

Walking out of the warehouse successful, Hermione smiled at Draco, "now _that_ was the most fun I've had all summer!"

"Yes, yes – fighting hordes of Vampires – loads of fun." Draco mumbled, himself exhausted from the excursion.

"You know, I think I'm going to miss California." Hermione remarked sadly.

Draco gave her a soft look she didn't recognize and the pair continued on in companionable silence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note – this is, more than anything else, a fun story. As a result, certain elements of their lives and people will be conveniently left out to avoid painful exposition. If anything is particularly confusing or unclear, let me know and I will try and clear it up – though hopefully you will have fun trying to fill in the blanks.


	4. The forest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own neither BTVS nor HP

**Disclaimer:** I own neither Buffy the Vampire Slayer nor Harry Potter

* * *

_**The Witch Slayer** _

_Chapter 4: The forest_

_5_ _th_ _Year – October - Hogwarts_

Hermione was _itchy_ – it was the best way to describe it.

"Can you stop?" Harry asked her at one point, holding his fork out towards her in an vaguely threatening manner. Hermione gave a guilty smile, realizing she had been tapping the table hard enough to cause a slight vibration.

"I'm sorry Harry – I just," she paused hoping to find the right words, "need to, you know." And she made the motion with her right hand of staking a vampire which apparently Harry didn't get because he immediately turned red. "Not that! You have a dirty mind. I need to slay something."

"Oh." Harry responded. They had been back to school a month and it was a bit _awkward_. Harry was persona non grata due to the wizarding world not believing that Voldemort was back. He had also been particularly prickly due to his summer of being ignored/attacked by dementors. He didn't blame Hermione per se, but she could tell he didn't particularly love hearing all of her tales from the Hellmouth.

_Can we go to the forest tonight?_ Hermione wrote in her new journal, watching as the message disappeared and a new one appeared. Willow had made the journals for her and Draco using Earth magic before they left Sunnydale – allowing them near instantaneous communication. Hermione was grateful for them; she didn't realize until she was back at school how much she took for granted being able to just talk with Draco in public without causing a riot.

_We talked about this._ She could practically see the eye roll in his response. This had become a new debate – she felt ready, he felt she needed more training.

_I'm going crazy. I can feel them…_

_You can feel them?!_ Now Hermione looked up. Draco was sitting across the hall and starring daggers at her. She had the presence of mind to look guilty. _How long?_

_Just this past week._ She responded

_Why didn't you say anything?!_

That was a good question. She had been begging him to go into the forest ever since they got back to school but this past week she went from having a 'gut' feeling to an actual 'itch.'

_I didn't realize what it was until recently._ She looked up to see him roll his eyes and she stuck her tongue out for a second before returning her attention to the journal.

_We'll go tonight. We're bringing our wands though._ Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. She felt weird bringing her wand on patrol. Over the summer they weren't permitted to use magic anyways but now that they were back at school, that was finally an option. Draco was ever practical, explaining he didn't care how she stayed alive so long as she stayed alive.

"Watcha doin?" Ron asked from her side as he stuffed a roll in his mouth. "And stop flirting with you-know-who from across the hall. I'm trying to eat." He paused for a moment, as he realized he'd referred to Malfoy as you-know-who.

Hermione ignored his second statement. "I'm _finally_ going to patrol the forest." Hermione beamed, whispering so only Ron and Harry could hear.

Harry looked worried. Ron looked apathetic. Hermione rolled her eyes _boys_ she thought as she picked up her books and headed to the room of requirement to get changed and grab supplies.

* * *

Just after sundown, she met up with Draco on the edge of the forest. Draco looked a bit on edge – he was admittedly _not_ a fan of going into places with the prefix _forbidden_. But he did his best to put on a brave face and accompanied Hermione as she edged on in.

"Do you know where you're going?" He whispered to her.

She paused, closing her eyes and feeling around for something, "Yes – they've been – gathering it seems."

Draco frowned, "How many are there, Granger?"

"In the forest? I fear at this point there may be hundreds. But there are two this way," she pointed to her right, "that separated from the others."

Draco nodded in understanding, "Any ideas on why they are gathering?" He asked her.

She shook her head, "No clue – but it can't be good."

The pair kept trekking in silence, pausing every few minutes or so as Hermione directed due to some other creature or other in their path. As they neared their destination Hermione's eyes scrunched as she attempted to hear something. She looked at Draco, cupped her ear and pointed to a spot beyond the tree they had hidden behind. He nodded as he got the message, staying still.

"I don't like it here." She heard one of the vampires above the crackling of a nearby fire.

" – don't act like you have a choice." She heard a feminine voice respond. Hermione cocked a single eyebrow looking at Draco, who shrugged in response since, without super hearing, all he heard was random mumbling.

The pair of vampires were no longer talking about anything of substance so, with a nod of agreement from Draco, she made her presence known.

She decided _against_ the classic 'lost in the forest quip' and instead snuck up on the female from behind and staked her. "Slayer!" She heard from the other who immediately shifted to his game face and began to snarl.

The fire still crackling, Hermione and the vampire were circling one another.

"Why are there so many of you in the forest?" Hermione asked, tightening her grip on her stake.

"Wouldn't you like to know little witch slayer." He responded with a smirk.

Hermione frowned, "How do you know who I am?"

The vampire shrugged, obviously bored of their short conversation, and kicked out, briefly knocking Hermione off balance. She took a quick breath and aimed a jab towards the creature's stomach, frustrated when he effectively dodged.

The pair continued on, Hermione growing more and more frustrated as the stale mate continued. She felt before she saw Draco's presence and nearly cried out in annoyance when a beam of red light attacked her foe who dramatically fell to the ground.

"You stupefied him!" She whisper yelled at her watcher.

"Just stake him already!" Draco gestured frantically at the vampire who already appeared to be stirring.

"But that's cheating!" Hermione complained. Draco gave her his ' _are you kidding me_?' stare and Hermione (reluctantly) staked the Vampire.

Much more relaxed, Draco responded, "It's not cheating – it's called staying alive."

Hermione rolled her eyes. This was a conversation they'd had multiple times since returning to school. She couldn't explain it – she understood rationally he was right. She had an advantage most slayers didn't and she should take advantage of it. But for some reason anytime she thought of using her wand in the execution of her slayer duties she felt _off_.

The pair began walking back towards the castle, relying on Hermione's preternatural sense of direction. They were having a light debate on what was bringing the vampires into the forest ("Voldemort" vs. "Not Voldemort") when Hermione unceremoniously shushed her watcher.

"Someone's watching us." She stated, her eyes darting around them, stake held tightly in her hand. Draco clutched his own wand, standing with his back to Hermione as the pair circled, "Who's there?" Hermione asked aloud and nearly jumped when a centaur gracefully trotted towards them.

"Firenze." Hermione remarked, recognizing the centaur from one of the trio's earlier ventures into the forest. She cautiously lightened her grip on the stake and lowered her arm to her side.

"Venus is bright in the sky, is she not?" The centaur remarked cryptically, his gaze upwards toward the sky, presumably towards the planet in question.

"Sure." Draco replied, still a firm hold on his wand and not trusting the creature in front of them.

"It is an honor to meet you – Witch Slayer." Firenze stated with a bow towards Hermione, completely ignoring Draco, who couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"For Merlin's sake, she's not a Witch Slayer." Draco mumbled under breath.

"You know me?" Hermione asked, curiosity edging her closer to the Centaur.

"Your calling has been written in the stars. I recognized you the moment you stepped into the forest this evening."

"What do you mean 'written in the stars'?" She asked, now slightly wary.

"It is not a coincidence she was called?" Draco guessed, sharing a look with Hermione.

"You are correct young watcher," Firenze nodded finally acknowledging Draco's presence, "I believe forces are coming to a head."

"What forces?" Hermione asked, eyes wide.

"That I'm afraid I cannot answer – I can only read the stars." Firenze gave a patronizing smile to the witch and continued, "I do know we are on the precipice of a war long foretold. Only I fear the end is not truly the end." He explained cryptically.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked before Hermione had the opportunity to open her mouth.

"The prophecy is not the end." He stated and then looked once more at the sky and sighed, "I must leave. A warning though – while my brethren may acknowledge you as the witch slayer and not harm you – the other creatures of this forest will not be so kind. Tread lightly." And before Hermione or Draco could think to respond the centaur was gone, leaving his cryptic messages hanging thickly between them.

"Well that was helpful." Draco quipped.

"What is with this witch slayer business?" Hermione moaned.

"It could be they've deduced that you're a slayer and given we're in the forbidden forest you would thus have to be a witch." Draco reasoned logically.

"But it's being brandished like a title." Hermione responded pointedly.

"Can it be a coincidence?" Draco thought aloud, "I mean, they called you the witch slayer in Sunnydale."

The two considered this this for a moment, "You may need to tell Dumbledore." Draco whispered cryptically as they continued to weave through the forest, the light of the castle nearing.

Hermione whipped her head towards him, "Why now?"

He stopped as they reached the edge, grabbing Hermione's wrist to keep her from moving. She looked at him with one eyebrow raised as he paused to collect his thoughts, "I don't like it," he softly explained, "cryptic messages from centaurs, the vampires knowing who you are. I'm worried there's something we're missing. Something beyond Giles and my expertise."

Hermione could see the genuine worry in his face and only then realized he was still touching her wrist. She felt her neck warm and Draco, as if himself just realizing he was touching her, released his grip. Hermione muttered, "If I'm being honest – I don't really want to tell him."

Draco was surprised by that, "No?" He asked lightly, recalling the many arguments they had when she fervently _did_ want to tell him.

"It's just," Hermione began, brushing some hair out of her face that had managed to escape her pony tail as she tried to put her thoughts into words, "I like being a slayer, and I guess once Dumbledore knows I'm afraid I'll suddenly _become_ this witch slayer.

"It's like," Hermione was now wringing her hands in frustration, "right now, it's just you and me. I'm a slayer and you're my kind of watcher." She stilled in front of him, "I know that it's not a coincidence I was called and all of that but I like it like this." She admitted.

He smiled at her, and made a motion to put his right hand on her left cheek when an unnaturally loud noise caused them both to jump and turn.

"What the hell was that?" Draco asked.

"I think," Hermione's eyes darted side to side, "that's our sign it's time to head inside…"


	5. The other chosen one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own neither HP nor BTVS

_5th_ _year - December - Hogwarts_

Draco was minding his own business, just walking along the 7th floor corridor and preparing for Hermione's training session when _it_ happened.

In hindsight, he should have realized the door looked _wrong_.

And he _knew_ Granger and her swotty friends were doing their DADA class there.

But he walked in anyways and saw _it._ Harry Potter and Cho Chang – kissing? He wasn't sure that was the right word. Whatever it was, it was revolting. He immediately ran out, ignoring the loud door slam and hiding behind a tapestry nearby. He faced the wall and made a few feeble attempts to gouge his eyes out before turning around and creeping around the tapestry.

His eyes grew wide as he saw poor Granger innocently walking towards the door. On instinct, he grabbed her arm and pulled her alongside him behind the tapestry. She immediately made to throw him off when he whispered "Granger".

She chose to smack him away instead and squinted at him. "What are you doing out here? Why didn't you get the room ready?"

"I – I," Draco started, brushing his hair with his hand and darting his eyes left to right. Hermione looked at him, her toe tapping and arms crossed over her chest. "I figured you had set up the room and I walked in there and," he pointed to the room then made his face cringe, "Potter was making out with Cho Chang!" He whisper screamed at her and made a puking face.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Well, if you had been paying more attention instead of just grabbing me from the hall you would have noticed that Cho Chang left – I passed her at the end of the hallway.

"Oh." Draco said dumbly before shaking himself. "It was very traumatic you know."

"Of course it was Draco," Hermione patted him on the head. Draco rolled his eyes and vowed then and there to get revenge on Potter.

"It looks like Harry is still in there though." Hermione looked at the door curiously and shrugged, heading in and beckoning Draco when she confirmed it was all clear.

"Hey Hermione – good lesson, right?" Harry said, looking completely disheveled. Draco visibly shuddered.

"Sure Harry…do you still need the room? Draco and I have training now." Hermione remarked, trying _very_ hard not to audibly laugh at Draco's discomfort. Harry only then noticed Draco's presence and did an odd sort of wave in recognition.

"Oh sure! I've actually been meaning to ask if I could sit in with you guys." Harry asked, regaining some of his confidence.

"Why?" Draco bluntly asked. Hermione gave him a reprimanding look to which he responded with a blatant eye roll.

"Well – I've been thinking. I mean, it's one thing to know spells and stuff but I imagine being able to physically fight would be useful. I thought it would be interesting." Harry shrugged, "With Voldemort back and what not – I figure any leg up will help."

Draco looked to Hermione, giving her a _'you're the slayer and he's your friend so it's up to you but don't expect me to be nice'_ look. Hermione smiled warmly at her friend, ignoring her watcher's hostility, "Of course you can!"

"Great!" Harry smiled, looking eager.

"But we have to leave first." Hermione stated, realizing Harry didn't understand she kept going, "'cause we need to change the room…"

"Oh of course!"

A few minutes later, the three were back in the dojo like room. Hermione had gone to change into her training clothes while Draco ignored Harry's brief commentary about the space.

Draco took his usual seat against a wall in front of the mat – waving his wand to turn on some music. Hermione started stretching and waved her wand, causing the song to immediately change. The two continued their silent battle, all while Draco began writing in a notebook and Hermione finished her stretches and began her kata.

Harry, having conjured a seat a few feet away from Draco, watched their antics silently. The music war eventually stopped and he saw Hermione smile triumphantly and Draco roll his eyes. Harry continued to watch as his friend performed a series of what looked like martial arts movements in slow motion. Draco would occasionally comment, either indicating she should speed up or move in a different way. Hermione more or less complied, sometimes with a nod other times with the roll of her eyes.

Eventually, her movements went from a slow methodical ballet to a blindingly fast dance before she finally stopped and began a series hand stands.

"Are you ready?" Draco asked at one point, finally looking up from his writing.

"Yeah." She uttered awkwardly from her position.

Harry watched as a sword slowly flew at the wall and Hermione caught it while flipping herself onto her feet.

"Faster." She told Draco, throwing the sword on the ground and returning to her handstand. Draco rolled his eyes but nonetheless complied. The exercise continued in different variations with different weapons. Eventually, Harry noticed Draco summon a series of fighting dummies from some mysterious nook or cranny.

"I want you to try 4 today." Draco stated, pointing to the dummies once the handstand ordeal was over.

"4?!" She asked incredulously.

"It's getting harder to find small groups in the forest. If you want to keep going out there, you need to practice." He explained patiently.

She groaned but complied, and Harry watched in amazement as Hermione took down the first 3 dummies with ease and grace only to be smacked in the side by the 4th.

"She's fine." He heard Draco drone quietly. Only then did Harry realize he had started to get up to check on her. Chagrined, he sat back down.

"I knew she was strong and could fight but – this is amazing." Harry smiled at Draco.

The watcher nodded, his focus returning to the book and his writings.

"Aren't you supposed to be watching her?" Harry asked, for some reason no longer feeling the need to be a silent observer "I mean, you're her 'watcher', right?"

"Yes," Draco started, closing his eyes and counting to three, "watcher isn't meant to be taken quite so literally – more like 'minder'. If it comforts you, when we're in the forest, I am always on alert." Harry nodded in acknowledgement and Draco was lulled into a false sense of peace.

"You know, I see you with her," Harry started abruptly. Draco looked up, his eyes now watching as Hermione successfully, if ungracefully, took down the 4 dolls. He looked to his left where Potter sat, looking directly at him, "I mean – I don't often literally see you _with_ her – I just mean she talks about Sunnydale and you a decent amount."

Draco was really trying hard to ignore him, "Well we do see a fair bit of each other."

"It's just – I mean, isn't it a conflict of interest?" Harry ignored him.

"Sorry?"

"Isn't there some sort of rule about watchers and slayers?" Harry finally said.

Draco turned to him again – neither had explicitly said anything but the meaning behind Harry's words were clear – he suspected something was going on _romantically_ between the pair. And as much as Draco wanted to deny it and, technically speaking, nothing was going on, he found himself wondering just _what_ Hermione had said to make her best friend this suspicious.

He decided, rather than to confirm or deny, to instead address the question itself. "There are no 'rules', at least not ones that you are thinking of," he began harshly, "I believe that, given slayers typically have a very short life span, the council was reluctant to create needless prohibitions."

That shut Harry up. His eyes went wide as he went back to watching his best friend and had the realization that she wasn't just gifted super powers – but she had a burden, not unlike his own.

"Oh." Harry finally said, and then had the good sense to follow up, "Look – I didn't mean anything by it – I just," he started, struggling for words. "I'm sorry – and it's none of my business."

"Agreed." Draco said and returned to his notebook. Eventually, Draco got up and began challenging Hermione. Harry wasn't sure just what it was, only that Draco would suggest something, Hermione would typically say he was wrong or stupid, he would roll his eyes and she would do whatever he suggested anyways. Eventually they stopped and she disappeared back into the room she originally came out of.

"Look Potter," Draco started, his face pained, "I know we've never gotten along – but I don't want Granger to have a short life span," he rubbed his temples to keep from looking at Potter, "With Voldemort back, I'm not in the greatest of positions at the moment. It may be good for you to learn some of this – so if something happens to me, you can have her back."

This was something he and Giles had been debating for some time. Even if they had wanted to, the watcher's council couldn't just send a replacement. Draco had hoped to discuss the matter with Hermione first but figured given he wasn't able to regularly interact with Potter – this was probably the best time to do it.

"Of course." Harry responded with a smile, causing Draco to scoff on reflex. "What would I need to do."

"Well – just learn what you can," Draco started, and watched as Hermione, now showered and back in her robes, went over to grab some books, "understand her strengths, weaknesses and learn about the creatures she fights."

Harry nodded thoughtfully, "What's she doing now?" He asked.

Draco shrugged, "She's recently taken to researching dementors."

"Why?"

"Who knows?"

"Are you boys done talking about me?" Hermione creept up on them causing Malfoy to laugh and Potter jump out of his seat.

"Oh Potter – just a warning – she has super hearing." Draco patted Harry on the back, a little harder than necessary.

"So – you want to give it a go?" Hermione asked, smiling and looking towards the dummies.

Harry's eyes went wide, "Can I?"

Hermione said some words of encouragement and Draco made some sarcastic comment which somehow led to Harry, having transfigured his clothes into something a bit more athletic, breathlessly trying to take down just one of the dummies.

Hermione at this point was back in research mode, now with headphones on so she could focus. Draco found himself inadvertently giving Harry pointers (he would later revisit his behavior and rationalize that helping Potter helped his slayer).

"You have to put your whole body into the punch – not just your arm." Draco started demonstrating. Harry's eyes squinted in annoyance as he watched Draco successfully push the dummy back a foot.

"I feel so weak." Harry admitted.

Draco successfully avoided rolling his eyes, "Don't forget you're a wizard. And it's your first day," Draco took a breath, "do some push ups. And squats. And seriously – use your wand."

"Why doesn't Hermione use her wand?" Harry asked.

"We're working on it," Draco cracked his neck to the right, "she's not exactly comfortable mixing magic and slaying. But – I'm all for whatever it takes to stay alive."

After another half hour, Harry was exhausted and left after Draco's third comment on how smelly he was.

"So you want to train Harry too now?" Hermione asked Draco, her eyes twinkling.

"You heard that?" Draco asked.

"Yes."

"And how do you feel about that?" He asked, his hand on the door knob as the pair prepared to leave.

She paused her steps as she took a minute to think, "I don't know." She said, softly frowning. She knew it would be nice having one of her best friends around more and she knew intellectually it made sense to have someone else with some awareness of the supernatural and Hermione's skill set.

But on some level, she felt irrationally protective of her and Draco's time together. It was something she had started feeling upon their return from Sunnydale – it seemed the summer had cemented some sort of bond she couldn't quite enumerate. There were moments – like their first time in the woods – that she felt a stirring of something _more_.

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts and stared up at the blond, "I think you're right – it's a good idea to have someone else involved. And I trust Harry."

He nodded his apparent agreement before heading out, wondering not for the first time what exactly his slayer was thinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick note on continuity - while this is going on, back in Sunnydale the Scoobies are dealing with Glory and discovering Dawn (I could not for the life of me find a way to fit this into the story that didn't feel forced). One note of clarification since we're in Season 5, while in this story Narcissa Malfoy is taking the role of Joyce Summers, Narcissa won't be taking all of her plot points - only those that are convenient to the plot.


	6. The revelation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own neither BTVS nor HP.

_Year 5 – June – Ministry of Magic_

Hermione couldn't believe they walked into this trap. "Luna! Behind you!" Hermione shouted to the girl as she drop kicked a death eater and sent a casual stupefy at another.

Of course, in hindsight, obviously Voldemort had become aware of his connection to Harry and leveraged it to plant false images. But it really did seem like a good idea at the time for a bunch of children to go after Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries.

In spite of all of this, Hermione was actually having a great time! She was taking on 3 death eaters, for the first time genuinely comfortable using both her slayer powers and wand at the same time ' _if only Draco could see me now'_ she thought as she threw a kick to her right, casually catching a wand that had been pointed at Neville.

She wasn't quite sure what was going on or what the point of all of this was but she had heard mutterings of a _prophecy_ so she was on alert. She vaguely caught Draco's father out of the corner of her eye, doing his best to sabotage his own efforts. She gave him a short nod and continued on.

She was in the process of preparing a knockout punch to yet another death eater when the feeling of the air being knocked out of her lungs forced her to her knees. "No!" She shouted, drawing unnecessary attention to herself.

For a moment the world paused around her and she felt an odd surge of power course through her. But she knew what it meant – and for just a moment she saw _it_ and was horrified.

Before she had the chance to get a hold of herself, she felt a curse hit her stomach. She barely had a chance to look up and see who had hit her when she lost consciousness.

* * *

Upon waking, she bolted up right, immediately recognizing her surroundings as the Hogwarts hospital ward. She saw Harry, sleeping upright in a chair to her right and Ron lying unconscious in the bed next to him.

"Harry." She whispered to the boy, shaking his arm.

Harry murmured something before fully waking, "Hermione – thank goodness you're OK." He stated, his eyes wide and guilt ridden.

"Harry – where's Draco?"

Harry looked momentarily confused, "He's been here off and on – whenever he could be sure no one was around." Harry explained, "Look – I'm so sorry I dragged you down there and – I'm so glad you're OK." He finished without looking at her.

Hermione started to stealthily get dressed, "I'm OK Harry – but what happened? I heard something about a prophecy…" and like that Harry explained the night from his point of view.

"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry." Hermione hugged her friend after he told her about Sirius. He nodded in thanks and wiped his eyes, before looking down and noticing she was fully dressed.

"Hermione – where are you going?" Harry asked, "You got hit with a normally fatal curse – you should be resting!"

"Slayer healing," she explained, lifting her shirt to show the already fading scar, "I have to find Draco – something happened in Sunnydale – to Buffy."

Harry looked slightly confused but nodded – thinking about the watcher's uncharacteristically pensive behavior over the past day. He stood up and grabbed something out of his back pocket handing it to her with a sad smile.

Hermione gave a breath of relief as she recognized the Marauder's Map. "Thank you, Harry!" She gave her friend a final hug as she crept out of the hospital wing, whispering to the map, darting her eyes over the parchment until she finally found him.

She rolled up the parchment, whispering ' _mischief managed'_ and crept up to the astronomy tower. She stood at the threshold and watched Draco sit on the ground, looking up thoughtfully at the sky. With a deep breath, Hermione softly cleared her throat and purposefully started walking towards him.

Draco stood up, brushing imaginary dirt from his pants in want of something to do and proceeded to fidget. As Hermione walked up to him, she could see his eyes red and swollen. Without really thinking she pulled him into a hug. She felt him tense at first and then breathe out after a moment and relax.

"I'm so sorry Draco." She mumbled softly into his ear. The two held onto each other for another moment until Draco reluctantly released her arms and took a small step back, nodding at her in acknowledgement.

The pair stood in silence until Draco, his face transforming from grief to concern, started, "What are you doing out of the hospital wing? You've been unconscious for over a day! You need to heal." He reprimanded her.

She lightly rolled her eyes, "I'm fine," and showed him the shrinking scar on. "I just – I _had_ to make sure _you_ were OK." She explained.

He laughed at that but it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm your watcher – it's my job to make sure _you're_ OK and I let you go off on a fools' errand and almost get yourself killed!"

"It's not your fault." She said softly, unconsciously brushing some hair out of his eyes with her right hand. He looked at her then, and was amazed by the sheer _sincerity_ in her face.

"If something had happened to you…" His voice trailed off as he looked purposefully away from her. "How did you know?" He asked vaguely.

She understood the question, "I felt it – and I saw," she paused, unsure if she should tell him, "I saw Buffy jump."

He nodded, a combination of a chuckle and a sob making its way out of his throat. "Apparently it was her or Dawn. Of course, Buffy could never let anything happen to her." Draco shook his head.

Hermione took his hand in hers, "I'm so sorry Draco." She repeated, "I'm not going anywhere."

The two stared at each other for a moment, and while in hindsight she'd recognize that this was easily the worst timing possible, she nonetheless closed the short distance between them and brushed her lips to his. She almost instantly stepped back a few inches, a bit mortified at her behavior. Draco looked at her with that _look_ in his eyes that she could never translate before dropping her hand and cupping her cheek with his own, leaning in and _really_ kissing her.

It took her only a second to respond as she wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss and shutting her eyes to the world around her. It felt oddly _natural_ , being in his arms in this way. After a few moments though, as her brain caught up to her heart, her mouth froze. Draco, feeling her change in demeanor, took a step back and gave her a questioning glance.

"This," she started pointing at both of them, "feels like _really_ bad timing."

Draco shook his head, a playful smile on his face, "I don't really care." And they were kissing again, a little less desperately this time, their hands clumsy and mouths unsure as they attempted to soothe each other's woes.

As the night wore on, eventually the pair found themselves lying hand in hand, watching the night sky.

"They need you in Sunnydale." Draco commented softly, his thumb tracing light circles in her palm.

She turned to him, "I figured. Will you be there?" She asked.

He turned back to face the stars. "I can't. Voldemort has called for me personally. He's not thrilled with my father's 'failure' at the ministry. Mother thinks we'll be stuck there all summer."

"What about Dawn?" Hermione asked.

"Willow, Tara and Xander are looking after her. Mother is hoping she'll be able to get away at some point – but." Draco trailed off, "Dawn's a squib – like Buffy. She can't be anywhere near us."

"Have you all thought of just running away?" Hermione had asked this before – but the situation was different, "I mean…"

"We can't." He said, and then clarified, "I can't." He whispered looking at her and her breath hitched when she realized what he was saying, "I can't leave you alone here."

She nodded, appreciating it more than she could say. "You know, you've turned into a pretty great watcher."

He laughed lightly, "Well you survived over a year so there's that." Then he grew more serious, "When Giles called to, you know," Draco frowned, "he mentioned something else. Buffy apparently went on some _vision_ quest recently. She saw something or _someone_ – it was all quite symbolic of course but they believe – believed – that you need to talk to Dumbledore."

"That seems a bit of a causal leap." Hermione pointed out.

Draco shook his head, "did I mention that this was discovered on a 'vision quest'?"

Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment, "Alright. But I don't think I should tell him about you."

Draco smiled, "And I'd rather you didn't. Just - tell him about you."

"You think he can help figure out this witch slayer business?"

He shrugged. The two sat in silence and before she realized, Hermione had drifted to sleep. When she woke up, the sun rising and leaving streaks along the tower, she discovered Draco had already left.

* * *

Following a short breakfast where she shot daggers at anyone who asked her about the ministry and the few friends of hers who asked why she wasn't in the hospital wing, she made her way up to Dumbledore's office.

"Ah – Ms. Granger." Dumbledore looked up from his desk, acting as though they had a scheduled appointment and she hadn't barged in, "to what do I owe this visit? Lemon drop?" He offered.

Hermione noticed that he looked as put together as ever – no evidence of his exile or the dramatic events of the last few days. She shook her head and dropped down into the single seat in front of his desk, fidgeting as she looked at her hands, trying to find the right words.

"Is this about what happened at the ministry?" He asked thoughtfully. Hermione purposefully avoided eye contact.

"Headmaster," she started and, unsure what to say, put the stake on his desk. He pondered it for a moment before looking back at her, wide eyed and seeking confirmation, "I'm a vampire slayer." She explained.

"How long?" He asked, his attention fully on her now.

"About a year and a half." She responded, "I wanted to tell you but – the wizarding world – they don't seem to like slayers."

Hermione was moderately surprised when Dumbledore chuckled, "that is a kind way of putting it. So why are you telling me now?"

She finally looked him, unsure how much to say, "because I think I was called for a reason."

Dumbledore contemplated this for a moment, feeling the pieces to a dozen different puzzles fall into place. "You are the witch slayer." He said with a nod.

"How do you – why do you say that?" She asked, "Everywhere I go they call me that – _the_ witch slayer – even though it's grammatically inaccurate," he looked at her sadly, "you know – don't you sir?"

Dumbledore nodded and then handed her a small book, "this belonged to my sister, Ariana. She was," he took a minute to take a deep breath before continuing, "I believe - the last witch to be called as a slayer."

Hermione paled, "What happened to her?" She asked, accepting the book which she now recognized as a journal.

The old wizard shook his head and looked down, "I was young when she was called and," he paused as he tried to find the right words, "I believed what I was taught about slayers. I thought she was a danger – well whatever I thought I know now I was _wrong._ I alerted the ministry and they – well they did something to her." He looked exceedingly sad.

"When she returned, she was a shell of who she was – and not quite sane. A few months later – she was gone." He explained quietly to Hermione, his eyes shining in regret. "Once I read this journal I realized – she was always my sister. I just didn't understand."

She froze, looking at her headmaster and thinking about what Draco said that first day _'I don't trust Dumbledore…I have my reasons'_ , and she wondered how much of this story he knew.

"Ariana had very vivid slayer dreams. She wrote," he pointed towards the diary in Hermione's hands, "about the future. She saw many girls and many monsters. But she seemed to always dwell on a young witch who would be called just before the turn of the century. She called her _the witch slayer_ and said she alone would be able to bring the coming war to its true end." Dumbledore finished; his face pensive as he trudged up memories from far in the past.

"Until just now, I was never truly sure her dreams would come to pass," Dumbledore exhaled, "she also mentioned a watcher. Someone stuck between two worlds. There was something about them that Ariana seemed to dwell on."

Dumbledore watched Hermione as she grew more uncomfortable. He nodded in understanding. "I don't expect you to reveal your secrets. Especially not after the terrible one I have just told."

"Thank you, sir." Hermione replied, "There is one thing," she started, thinking about Ariana's dreams and Firenze's warning, "I was out patrolling in the forbidden forest and came across a centaur, he told me," she paused to recollect the exact phrasing, "the prophecy is not the end.

"I'm not sure what exactly is in the prophecy about Harry – but I'm struggling to imagine this is all a coincidence." She finished.

Dumbledore looked concerned for a moment before his face returned to its typical grandfatherly demeanor, "I doubt it is a coincidence. But I fear I do not know enough to unravel the meaning at this time.

"Thank you for trusting in me, Hermione." He smiled, using her first name, "and please – do not hesitate to return if you need anything further."

She nodded back and took her leave, finding herself with more questions than answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So obviously this crosses over with The Gift. To clarify, Narcissa is alive - she didn't die so much as is being forced to spend more time in the wizarding world 'cause of Voldemort. This is probably one of the more serious chapters but I promise, even though the actual plot is picking up now, there will still be plenty of fun/ridiculousness ahead.


	7. The death eater

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own neither BTVS nor HP

_Year 6 – September – Hogwarts_

"Howsya shuuma?" Ron mumbled with his mouth full, enjoying the opening feast like he had been starved all summer.

Hermione's face went from disgusted to blank as she attempted to translate Ron's talking-with-his-mouth-full into proper English. "What?"

Ron swallowed his food and repeated, "How was your summer?"

"It was…good," Hermione started, contemplating her summer break. She had found herself spending a chunk of it in an endless guilt cycle. She would think about her night with Draco, then she would contemplate what he was doing and if he was thinking of her, then she would realize that Buffy was dead and Draco was probably having the worst summer ever and feel terrible. But of course, thinking about Draco would make her think of that night, and so on and so forth. She was fairly certain Ron didn't care to hear any of this, "It was strange without Buffy. And even stranger because I had to patrol with the Buffy bot." Hermione scrunched her nose in memory.

"What's a Buffy bot?" Harry innocently asked.

"It's what it sounds like – a robot version of Buffy. In order for me to stay at Hogwarts, we had to convince the supernatural world at large that Buffy was still alive – so Willow worked to program a Buffy robot into a slayer." Hermione explained.

"Do all muggles have a robot version of themselves?" Ron asked, causing his two best friends to break down into laughter. "Just asking." Ron mumbled embarrassed before refocusing his efforts on dinner.

"Sorry Ron – no, it is very uncommon. This robot is particularly impressive too – my understanding was this guy Warren, who's some sort of engineering genius, managed to create it." She explained.

"Why did he make it?" Harry asked.

"Spike asked for it."

"Whose Spike? And why?" Harry seemed unable to leave it alone.

"Spike's that vampire I told you about – the one who can't hurt people because of the chip in his head. He fancied himself in love with Buffy." Hermione explained with her eyebrows raised.

Harry looked thoughtful for a minute before he leaned back from the table, his face an image of revulsion.

"Idun get it?" Ron blabbered to Harry, who whispered something into Ron's ear. Ron looked thoughtful and sort of shrugged, earning himself a jovial smack in the shoulder.

Just then, the evening owl post rained down on them. Hermione gracefully grabbed an envelope headed her way. She quickly read the short note, gasped and looked across the hall – noticing Draco mirroring her reaction. She immediately dug into her bag for her notebook – ignoring her best friends questions and throwing the note to them. Upon opening the book, she realized Draco had already messaged her.

_Old Charms classroom?_

_Yes – on my way._

By the time she looked up, he was already gone. She quickly grabbed her bag and gave an awkward goodbye before rushing to meet him.

"You'll call me later?" Draco gulped into his phone as Hermione entered the room. Just as she was about to lock it, Draco wordlessly did so, causing her to roll her eyes.

"OK – I'm glad you're back. I'll tell her." He said and hung up.

"Did you talk to her?" Hermione asked, her eyes feeling heavy with emotion.

"Yeah," Draco responded with a smile, wiping his own tears, "it's really Buffy. I don't know all the details but Willow somehow brought her back to life."

"Oh thank god." Hermione let out and pulled him into a hug which he immediately sunk into.

The pair broke apart and an awkward silence seemed to take over.

"Well." Hermione started, "How was your summer?" She almost winced at how awkward she sounded.

"Oh you know – lovely." Draco responded sarcastically.

"I really appreciated you keeping me updated on your workout regimen." Hermione quipped back. All summer long, Hermione was reluctant to write in their shared notebook given Draco's predicament. However, he had been apparently using the notebook to track his workouts – specifically the number of push ups, pull ups and squats he completed each day.

His eyes lit up, "I'm glad you enjoyed that." Hermione gave a soft eye roll – while not necessarily meaningful she was always relieved to see he had written so at least she knew he was OK.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" She asked more seriously.

He paused, unconsciously scratching at his left arm. Hermione noticed and let out a thick breath. Draco looked up at her with a crooked smile and started, "Well – I got a tattoo finally."

"Oh," Hermione responded, regaining her composure, "What of?"

Draco started rolling up his left sleeve. Hermione tried _very hard_ not to audibly gasp as the dark mark moved on his fore arm, "What? You don't like it?" He asked, softly smiling down at her.

"Well, I guess I was assuming you got my initials with a heart around it." Hermione quipped back, much to Draco's relief.

"I tried – but Voldemort seemed to think that was missing the point and insisted on this."

"Are you OK though?" Hermione asked seriously causing Draco's smile to stumble.

"The summer wasn't pleasant Granger," he responded, "but I did what had to be done."

"You could have left."

"No," Draco shook his head, "I think with everything going on – I think it's where I need to be." He paused, half sitting on one of the desks, "We still don't know what's happening. You have the Order for information. Now I'll be able to keep an eye on the Death Eaters." He explained.

"What aren't you telling me?" Hermione asked, when she noticed he seemed unable to maintain eye contact with her.

"He gave me a task," Draco started, "a ridiculous task. But I guess it's some sort of punishment for my father's failure and imprisonment."

"And?"

"And he wants to me kill Dumbledore." Draco finished.

Hermione was taken aback – she had anticipated that maybe he was supposed to recruit death eaters or begin a propaganda campaign or something more reasonable to expect of a 16-year-old. "What?"

Draco laughed, "Yeah – that was my reaction. I guess Voldemort is sick of Dumbledore's meddling and figures it would be easier to kill him here, when his guard is down, than in some sort of epic battle. I think it's cheating but whatever."

Hermione looked thoughtful, "Are you going to do it?"

Draco shook his head, "I'm not planning to become a murderer – I'm researching how I can effectively fake his death. Luckily Voldemort doesn't seem to be in any sort of rush – he just wants it done by the end of the school year." He shrugged.

"That's a relief." Hermione exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she was holding in. Only then did she notice she was now only half a foot away from Draco. His position on the desk meant their eyes were level. She looked up and caught him staring at her mouth and immediately felt her neck redden.

Before she had the opportunity to think about it too much, he had pulled her to him and started kissing her, his arms cradling her head gently. Hermione shut her eyes and leaned in, letting the moment take over for a few minutes.

"What are we doing?" She whispered, pulling her head back so they were mere inches apart.

"I'm kissing you." Draco responded, sounding very sure of himself.

Hermione shook her head and gave a light chuckle, "I know that. But I mean – what is this?" She looked up into his eyes and saw her own uncertainty mirrored back.

"I don't know Hermione," he started sadly, "but I missed you this summer and when I wasn't partaking in virgin sacrifices with other death eaters all I could think about what kissing you again."

"Did you really sacrifice virgins?" Hermione asked, taken aback. His laughter in response caused her to roll her eyes, "well I too had moments where I thought about kissing you." Hermione responded slyly.

"Just moments?" Draco asked, placing light kisses on her neck.

"Yes – you know, when there was absolutely nothing else going on and I was bored out of my mind." She lied, trying to act completely unphased by his words and behavior.

"I don't believe you." He whispered and then kissed her again, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her up so she was straddling his lap.

Things were _about_ to get more serious when they heard the door open and a terrified scream. Hermione jumped off of him and turned to see Harry enter, clutching at his eyes in horror. Draco did something to lock the door confusing Hermione.

"I thought you locked it after I came in?" She asked.

Draco gave his best evil smile, "I did – but I also designed a locking spell capable of letting certain individuals in."

"Why?" Hermione asked. Harry had started to recover and was walking towards them, looking properly traumatized.

"Vengeance." Draco responded.

"For what?" Harry asked, now completely confused.

"For walking in on you and Cho kissing last year." He explained.

"SERIOUSLY?" Hermione asked while Harry mumbled in embarrassment, "wait a minute – did you design a spell specifically so Harry would walk in on us."

"Maybe." Draco shrugged, not looking guilty at all.

"But – how did you get him to walk in at just the right time?" She was wavering between horrified and impressed.

"Magic." He quipped as usual.

"Am I here for a reason?" Harry interrupted, properly confused at this point.

"Well, it was mostly for vengeance, but since you're here…" Malfoy gestured for him to take a seat.

"So – you two?" Harry pointed at them with an expectant look.

"SO I became a death eater this summer." Malfoy blurted out to aggressively change the subject.

It was effective. Harry's eyebrows practically flew over his head. "How? Where? When? Why?"

"Got a tattoo, at the manor, earlier this summer, 'cause I didn't _really_ have a choice." Draco responded, using his fingers to count and confirm he answered each inane but at least brief question.

"But – what are you going to do?" Harry asked, looking awfully serious. Draco had reluctantly begun to develop a tentative friendship with Harry over the past year. Their conversations were typically limited to slaying and earth magic and demons – avoiding the pitfalls of Draco's odd double life.

"What I've always done." He shrugged.

"Mock us in public?" Harry clarified.

"Yes." Draco confirmed, "just basically put on my typical show." He finished, "You distracted me – now I forgot what I was going to say."

"Was it going to be about you know." Harry asked pointing to the two of them and making kissing noises. Hermione looked embarrassed while Draco merely rolled his eyes and looked annoyed.

"OH! I remember!" Draco literally snapped his fingers, "I'm not going to be able to accompany you to the forest this year," he sadly told Hermione, "You're going to have to do it." Now he turned to Harry who looked a bit freaked out.

"Why?" Harry and Hermione asked.

"It's Snape. He's been following me, asking about my feelings and stuff. I'm fairly certain he'll be following me around and bothering me all year. I don't want to risk him finding out about you." This time he purposefully looked at Hermione who nodded.

"Can you handle it?" He asked Harry.

"Er," Harry started looking at Hermione who was trying to say something with her eyes that he just didn't get.

"Of course he can handle it Draco! We'll be fine!" Hermione jumped in.

"You sure?" Draco asked, eyes squinting the pair of them. Harry nodded in compliance though he really _didn't_ look sure. Hermione however was determined. Since the past year, she knew she really needed to go into the forest to slay – for her mental health really.

"Yessss, we're sure. And I promise I'll use my wand if appropriate!" Hermione gave Draco an overly cheerful smile.

"You better." Draco finished with a threatening glare to Harry for good measure.


	8. The professor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own neither BTVS nor HP

_Year 6 – February - Hogwarts_

Hermione was uncharacteristically late as she mumbled her apologies and took her seat in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Lately, her training had been specifically focused on combining her slayer skill and magic. While it was going fairly well, it left her mentally and physically exhausted – which she rationalized was why she had found herself napping after lunch that day. She had a particularly vivid and rather horrifying dream and managed to sleep through the alarm she had set on her wand, resulting in her current predicament.

She started pulling out her books, parchment and quills, vaguely listening to Snape begin his lecture. It took her a moment to realize Harry and Ron both kept turning to face her before turning back to the board. She was just about to whisper yell at them when she looked up and saw _SLAYER_ in big letters written on the board in the front of the room. "Shit" she whispered quietly to herself.

She attempted to gauge Draco's reaction by stealthily looking his direction but he was effectively ignoring her. She took a deep breath and looked forward, quill in hand, attempting to emulate the blonde.

"…can any of you tell me what the slayer is?" Snape finally asked, looking around the room at a few raised hands but eyes narrowing in on Hermione _._ "Ms. Granger, care to enlighten us?" He asked.

Hermione had, in a plot twist for her at least, actually not raised her hand in this instance. She took a breath to gather her thoughts, noticing Harry and Ron giving her expectant and totally obvious looks while Draco remained aloof and, if possible, overly nonchalant. "It's a girl whose been infected with a darkness. She has supernatural skill but is cursed." She answered, attempting to repeat the Ministry line, "From the literature on the slayer, there has been no empirical data provided, leading many to believe it to be a myth." She finished.

"Is that right Ms. Granger?" Snape asked, staring at her _very_ uncomfortably.

"Yes." She answered less certainly.

He nodded and headed back to the front of the class room. Harry and Ron faced her, giving her _"what's going on?!"_ and _"WtF!?"_ looks which she attempted to answer with a _"just pay attention and stop looking at me!?_ " look.

"Ms. Granger is correct," Snape started, to the shock of the entire classroom, "that is the prevailing belief and wisdom of the wizarding world." This seemed to finally get Draco's attention as his head shot up to stare at the man. "However, when dealing with dark creatures, one must not be dependent solely on wizarding texts."

Snape proceeded to wave his wand, allowing a passage from the book in front of him to be displayed before each student individually, "Into each generation a girl is born. One girl in all the world with the skill and strength to defeat the vampires, demons and forces of darkness. She is the slayer." Snape finished, looking up. Hermione attempted to school her expression into something thoughtful and studious as she would ordinarily look in such a situation.

"This is from an old muggle text on vampires." He finished, dramatically waving his wand again, causing the text to disappear.

"Why would muggles know about Vampires?" Blaise Zabini asked, confused.

"The wizarding world and muggle world were not always quite so separated," Snape explained, "there was a time wizards and muggles co-existed. It can be assumed that during that time, perhaps they worked together to defeat dark creatures. Can any of you explain why a muggle book and wizarding texts have such diverse viewpoints on the subject?"

Hermione had actually put a lot of thought into this, and really wished she could answer. As it was, only Theo Nott raised his hand, "Muggles have a lot of texts on wizards that are pretty off base – right? Isn't this just another example? They probably heard something and misunderstood?" He suggested.

"Interesting point Mr. Nott." Snape nodded in approval, "However, that brings me to my next question. In any text have you ever seen the slayer referred to specifically as a witch?"

Dead silence followed. For some reason, the lack of hands raised led Snape to once again call on Hermione. "Not that I'm aware of sir." She responded, hoping to avoid whatever trap it felt like he was trying to lead her into.

"So, given Ms. Granger's statement that there has been no data suggesting witches become slayers and contradictory muggle literature regarding slayers, perhaps there is a possibility that slayers reside in the muggle world." Snape suggested.

Hermione was trying _really_ hard not to narrow her eyes at the professor, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out what he was trying to get at. Did he know she was a slayer – or at least suspect and was now testing her for a reaction?

"Does it matter?" Zabini asked, a relief to Hermione who had been on the verge of asking the same thing.

"Of course it matters." Snape countered sharply. "As we begin our discussion on the so called dark creatures, I think it's important to understand these creatures natural enemies. Vampires and demons fear the slayer – whether she be a fighter for good, a dark creature herself or a mere myth remains the question.

"But to truly defend yourself against the dark, you must be willing to accept knowledge from all sources." Snape finished, this time looking directly at Hermione who had found a rather interesting piece of dust just to his right to stare at.

He facilitated the class in what would have been a fascinating debate about myth vs. reality, had she not been completely freaked out. Hermione remained oddly quiet throughout, only speaking when asked a direct question, garnering her some worried glances from her housemates.

As class was ending, Hermione spared a moment to glance at her notebook and caught that Draco had written requesting a meeting.

_Room of requirement – bring the stooges._ Hermione rolled her eyes but wrote a quick confirmation before grabbing Ron and Harry and heading to the 7th floor.

"What was that?" Hermione asked once the door was closed, finally comfortable speaking, "Does he know?"

"He hasn't said anything to me." Draco qualified.

"So, he doesn't know about you?" Hermione questioned.

"Hermione," Harry spoke up, "do you think Dumbledore told him?"

The three remained quiet and contemplated this. "If he did, why the dramatic lesson?" Hermione pointed out.

"He's a dramatic git, isn't he?" Ron shrugged, which none of them could _really_ argue against.

"It _could_ be his way of trying to say he knows what the slayer really is." Draco suggested, his thumb and forefinger rubbing thoughtful against his chin.

The adrenaline from the class having subsided, Hermione let out an unconscious and rather out of place yawn.

"We keeping you up?" Draco asked, eyebrows raised.

"Sorry," Hermione bit back, "You know this training takes a lot out of me. And I had the strangest dream right before class that caused me to sleep right through my alarm."

"What was it?" Draco asked, now alert, much to the confusion of Harry and Ron.

"You're think it was a slayer dream?" Hermione asked, surmising Draco's interest.

"If a dream kept you from waking up, I'd say there's a chance." Draco finished, flicking his hand to summon his usual watcher's journal and pen. He took a seat, poised to begin writing.

"I was in some sort of cavern. There were creatures – men with Xs instead of eyes? And some sort of monstrous vampire – if you can even call it that." Hermione started.

"The men-creatures were pulling a girl – she was screaming though I couldn't see her face. They were sacrificing her maybe? And the vampire monsters – I saw thousands of them." She frowned now, realizing just how vivid and real the dream seemed. "And something else – there was a voice – a horrible voice. Right before I woke up, it said _from beneath you it devours_."

Draco was frantically copying her dream in his book. Once he was done, he ventured over to where the various supernatural books resided, skimming the spines until he caught one in particular.

"Was that the first creature?" Draco asked once he found the page he was looking for. All four students were now crowded around the book.

Hermione gasped, "Yes! So it was a real slayer dream?"

Draco nodded, "I think so. That," he pointed to the page, "is a Bringer. They're some sort of harbinger of evil. Buffy and Angel encountered them a few years back."

Draco attempted to relay the story – which kept getting sidetracked by Ron's inability to comprehend a good vampire and Draco's extraneous eye rolling. Eventually, Draco left the trio to write a few of his findings in a separate notebook – one similar to his and Hermione's – that he and Giles used to exchange information.

Meanwhile, Ron had finally taken a chance to look around the room. "So, this is where you do your slayer training?" He asked rhetorically, skimming his fingers across the weapons.

"Yes…" Hermione confirmed.

"It's nice," He now picked up a sword, causing Harry to automatically drop to the floor.

"Put the sword down Ron." Hermione admonished causing Ron to pout but nonetheless comply.

"What do you think it means 'Mione?" Harry asked, "'From beneath you it devours', that doesn't sound like a good thing."

"Slayer dreams are typically omens of bad things to come," Hermione explained, "but other than a few dreams when I was first called, I have not had any. We had assumed it had to do with the fact I'm a witch or at Hogwarts."

"Alright, so what do we know?" Harry asked, waving at a wall and causing a white board to appear (' _cool'_ nodded Ron who had never seen a dry erase board and apparently thought it was impressive).

"I've been called the witch slayer on more than one occasion," Hermione started. Harry wrote down _witch slayer_ on the white board.

"That's a wicked alias!" Ron pointed out, impressed.

"It's grammatically incorrect!" Hermione rebutted to which Ron merely shrugged in ambivalence. She shook herself to refocus, "Dumbledore's sister had a vision presumably of me and Draco when she was a slayer." Ron shuddered at the 'me and Draco' bit on instinct earning him another eye roll.

"Anything else?" Harry asked, having wrote " _Ariana's visions_ " on the board.

"Vampires continue to flood the forbidden forest." Hermione pointed out. " _From beneath you_ – could they be coming from underground?" She wondered aloud.

"I don't think we have enough information to say that at this point." Draco pointed out, refocusing on the task at hand.

"Firenze!" Hermione pointed out, "He told us the ' _prophecy is not the end_ '."

Harry now wrote _prophecy_. "Do you still think the prophecy Firenze was referring to is me and Voldemort's prophecy?" He asked.

Hermione shrugged, "How many prophecies are there?" She turned and saw Draco about to provide some sort of watcher statistic, "OK – I get it – there are a lot of prophecies – but in this instance I'm tempted to say the simplest explanation makes the most sense."

"I think I see where you're going with this Potter." Draco walked towards the board as Harry wrote his own name and Voldemort on the list, "It's somehow all connected, it's just not clear how."

"Well, we've always known that, right?" Ron pointed out.

"But we can start to see the pieces now. It's just still so – vague." Hermione exhaled, continuing to be frustrated by the loose threads that refused to weave together.


	9. The headmaster

_Year 6 - June - Hogwarts_

Draco knew something was wrong – he could feel it in the very earth. _An imbalance in the force_ Xander would probably call it. He looked around his common room, not surprised to find his housemates unaffected, playing exploding snap and studying like the world hadn't shifted on its axis.

He placed his wand to his dark mark, mentally telling Voldemort he was finally ready to accomplish his task.

He had realized throughout the year something was _wrong_ with Dumbledore. Tara had taught him how to identify 'auras' once upon a time and it wasn't hard for him to notice the headmaster's was fading.

This was likely why he had procrastinated his task. He had effectively identified a way to fake the headmasters' death – the issue he had been mulling over was how to convince the headmaster of such a plan.

So, watching his aura continue to fade, Draco hoped the man would simply pass gently in his sleep.

But it was not to be apparently. Dumbledore was strong – even now, his aura hanging on by a thread, Draco realized it was not in him to fall naturally.

He quickly wrote off a note to Hermione in their notebook – warning her it was all about to begin. He understood his role in Voldemort's plans – once Dumbledore was out, the dark lord would move _fast_. Draco wouldn't see his slayer for a while.

He walked towards the astronomy tower – a slow dawdle as he soaked in what would likely be his last moments of freedom. He arrived and saw the headmaster in worst shape than he expected.

"Headmaster." Draco politely nodded as he approached.

"Draco…" the headmaster lolled, obviously not well.

Draco waved his wand over the headmaster, a short diagnosis spell indicating he was suffering from two poisons – the second of which sped up the deterioration caused by the first.

"I'm sorry I cannot help you sir," Malfoy said sadly and, pocketing his wand, held his hands out, whispering a few words in repetition until the soft breeze that had picked up between his hands drifted down to the old man, "I've not healed you but cleared your mind."

The headmaster now looked at Draco quizzically – his eyes cleared from the poison but a small spark there as well from this new puzzle, "I had assumed you had come here to kill me." Dumbledore stated evenly.

Draco let out a light chuckle, sitting down facing Dumbledore and twirling his wand in his right hand, "In a sense, I did. But I have no desire to cause your death."

Dumbledore considered this and then nodded, "So you are the watcher than?"

Draco smiled, "Yes – what gave it away?"

Dumbledore returned the smile, "Your earth magic. As you likely know, Ariana wrote of the watcher blessed in magic of both worlds." Then he frowned, "I'm sorry that I did not see it sooner."

Draco chuckled, "That was the point sir." He tilted his head slightly to the left, letting out a disgruntled breath upon hearing the familiar footsteps of the potions master. "It looks like we have company." He had foreseen the possibility of this and quickly mumbled the earth magic privacy spell.

"What is this?" Dumbledore said, his face masked in wonder as he saw Snape blurry in the distance but frozen.

"It's a spell of sorts – ensures we will not be disturbed." Draco explained, "Hermione was hoping to ask you about something but – it seems she won't have time," he exhaled, gathering his thoughts, "she has been plagued by slayer dreams of late. At the end of each dream, a voice states the same words: 'From beneath you it devours'. Have you ever heard this phrase before?" Draco asked.

Dumbledore looked thoughtful and then his eyes briefly flashed down to his immediate right before meeting Draco's once more, "Once before," he confirmed recollecting it, "It was Voldemort – when he had come to the school to apply for the defense against the dark arts position. I turned him down and he looked out my window and smiled to me – saying those exact words." Dumbledore frowned now.

Draco gave a soft smile and shook his head, "That's what we were afraid of."

"What is it?" Dumbledore asked.

Draco, feeling for the dying man, explained, "We've been collecting various data over the past couple of years – phrases like 'witch slayer', the ever-increasing number of vampires in the forbidden forest, the centaurs cryptic warning. We knew from the beginning that it couldn't be a coincidence Hermione was chosen but – I guess this confirms it once and for all.

"There's an entity known as the first evil – it has psychic abilities. We believe it has been manipulating events in both magical worlds. Trying to force them together." Draco finished.

Dumbledore frowned, "That doesn't sound pleasant."

"It's not." Draco smirked.

"You've encountered this 'first evil'." Dumbledore realized.

"Yes." Draco confirmed, "My sister Buffy, she was called as a slayer 7 years ago." Draco started, watching the headmasters' eyes grow large in surprise, "4 years ago, her boyfriend was haunted by the first. It haunted all of us in the end through the appearances of those who have died. It was not my favorite winter holiday." He finished.

"Your sister was a slayer?" Dumbledore rhetorically asked, his voice sad.

" _Is_ a slayer actually. Too stubborn to stay dead. It's a long story." Draco smiled.

"So your parents…?"

"Are doing everything in their power to protect her." Draco confirmed.

Dumbledore smiled, "Thank you for telling me all of this Draco. I find as I sit here in my final moments, I'm comforted to know the strength of those fighting for our world. And understand what my sister had written about so many years ago."

Draco shifted, the reminder that this was not just a friendly conversation. His face turned melancholy, "Sir – I have no desire to harm you. I can fake your death and take you somewhere to live out your last days – though I'm afraid you will still feel the pain of your poison. Or – well there is an earth spell. Something like euthanasia – it will help you go peacefully if that is your preference."

Dumbledore looked thoughtful as he considered his options, "I think it would be best to end it now."

Draco placed his hand in his satchel, pulling out a black bottle, instructing the headmaster to drink it. As the man dutifully consumed his final drink, Draco whispered to him. Dumbledore's eyes filled with water as he uttered a final 'thank you' and Draco stated a few simple words, his wand firmly tucked away. Dumbledore collapsed and Draco gently placed his head on the floor. He uttered a short wiccan farewell and took a deep breath before standing up and breaking the privacy spell they had been using. He immediately brought his wand to his hand and stood over the headmaster, attempting to appear as though he had just performed the killing curse.

"Draco." He heard Snape from behind, slightly out of breath behind him, "You've done it?" He asked.

Draco merely nodded, attempting to bite back the emotions plaguing him. He placed his wand to his mark and softly uttered " _Morsmordre_ " and watched dispassionately as the mark lit up the sky. Before Snape could say anything further, he started back towards the castle – preparing for his exit. He knew it would only be a matter of minutes until all hell broke loose and he was planning to be far from this place.

He was heading towards the alcove where he had strategically placed a shrunken trunk when he was pulled into an empty classroom. Half expecting Hermione, Draco was surprised to see Potter out of breath and emerging from his bloody invisibility cloak.

"I saw it." Potter said numbly. Draco cocked his head, trying to determine _what_ exactly it was he saw when he continued, "I was within the field of your privacy spell – I saw everything. What are you going to do now?"

Draco looked at his watch, "I have to go."

"What about Hermione?" Harry asked, looking thoughtful.

"Potter – you heard what Dumbledore said – it's critical I stay close to Voldemort. I need you to take care of her now – can you do that?" Draco asked sincerely.

"Of course." Potter confirmed, slightly taken aback by Draco's earnestness.

Draco nodded, preparing to run when he heard the sound of increasing footsteps and a few screams, "Shit." Draco uttered – unsure now of how he was going to get out. It would only be moments before one of the professors identified him as the source of the mark and surmise what happened.

"Here – take my cloak." Harry handed it to him.

"Thank you – I'll leave it in the room of requirement." Draco nodded and took off.

Draco stealthily moved about the castle in an almost dream like state. His classmates and professors were everywhere, confusion and panic abundant, but none with even the slightest awareness of his presence. Until he turned a corner and saw her, and even though it was impossible she stopped two feet away from him and stared.

He kept still, watching her, other students and professors moving around her as she stared thoughtfully. She raised her hand, skimming only inches from Draco's face before she dropped it and whispered, " _Goodbye_ ".

"Goodbye Hermione." He whispered back but by then, she was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is the height of seriousness for this story...I promise there will be plenty of ridiculousness in the future.
> 
> (Anyone curious, this story will be 13 chapter & an epilogue.)


	10. The Burrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing

_Summer between 6th and 7th year - the Burrow_

_Part 1: Meet the Weasleys_

Hermione paced the front door of the Burrow, cell phone in hand as she waited. Due to Harry's impending Horcrux hunt, she had decided to spend the summer in the magical world rather than in Sunnydale as she typically did. Finally, a soft knock confirmed her guests had arrived.

"Hermione!" Willow remarked, stepping inside without invitation and hugging the slayer closely. Giles had a much more polite 'hello' with a firm but meaningful shoulder grab.

"Thank you so much for uh – you know. Helping." Willow yelped and her eyes watered.

"It's no big deal!" Hermione started, which wasn't quite true, as she recalled the conversation from a few nights ago.

* * *

_A few nights ago_

Hermione had only been at the Weasley's for a week when she got the odd request from Giles. _Apparently_ , Willow went a little crazy. And _almost_ , but didn't, end the world. And now he thinks being around witches and wizards like Hermione will help her.

So Hermione found herself at dinner, oddly moving her food around her plate as she prepared to 1) reveal her big secret and; 2) ask if they wouldn't _mind_ helping to rehabilitate a witch who kind of went bad.

One of the good/bad things about the Weasleys was there were just so many of them – this meant dinner conversation never really seemed to stop. Of course Molly Weasley, the ever observant matriarch, seemed to notice something was off. "Hermione – is everything alright?" She asked quietly from the head of the table two places away.

Ron looked at her expectantly – he was sure his family would be _totally_ cool with this. He gave Hermione a supportive nod and she cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention, "Sorry – there's something I want you all to know." She paused – the twins looked a little uncomfortable with the sudden serious turn of events but Molly and Arthur smiled in support, "I'm a vampire slayer." She told them, choosing to be _direct_.

George and Fred looked a little confused. Ron smiled in support. Arthur looked concerned. Molly looked torn between fear and the need to be comforting. Ginny gave a suspicious look her way. Before any of them could say anything, Hermione started again, "it's not like what is in the books – the slayer isn't some sort of evil thing or creature." She gave a readers' digest version of the typical watcher's diatribe. Ron piped in as well, confirming he had seen no indication that Hermione was less than sane.

"Is that why you and Harry would randomly return to the tower with your shoes covered in mud?" Ginny asked.

Hermione was surprised the younger girl had put that together, "Yes – Harry accompanied me to the forest during 6th year. I didn't realize anyone had noticed."

Ginny sort of shrugged, appearing relieved and Hermione now wondered what it looked like – her and Harry returning to Gryffindor tower sweaty and covered in dirt. She shivered at the thought.

"How long have you…been a slayer?" Arthur asked.

"I was called in the spring of 4th year." Hermione confirmed.

"And you've been aware this whole time?" Molly asked her son, her voice cautious.

"Yes."

"And you're _sure_?" Molly asked, obviously working to absorb the situation.

"Yes." Hermione answered this time.

"Well – thank you for telling us." Arthur stated finally, "we appreciate your trust in us."

Hermione smiled and let out an exhale, "Well, I _do_ trust you all but that's not the only reason I've chosen to confide in you." She looked from face to face, everyone's eyes firmly locked on her, except Ron who was giving off a ' _haha I knew all of this first'_ shit eating grin that caused Hermione to elbow him softly in the ribs.

"There's another slayer – it's a long story – her name is Buffy and she currently protects the hellmouth in Sunnydale." She paused, "her best friend is a witch named Willow. She's not a witch like us – she doesn't use a wand or have a magical core. She is able to manipulate the magic in the earth."

Molly now looked intrigued, "Can she really? I've heard stories of such witches – but have never actually seen such a thing."

Hermione nodded, "It's incredibly difficult. I have been working at it for the last two years and can still only do a few small spells. Willow is naturally very attuned to the earth." She paused again, taking a deep breath before finally getting to the point, "She kind of – well, abused it. Buffy and her other friends realized something was wrong when they realized she had been using memory modification spells on her girlfriend"

This got Fred and George's attention which made Hermione roll her eyes before continuing, "Things got really bad and then she stopped cold turkey – but then, her girlfriend was killed.

"She went very dark at that point – I don't know all the details but she somehow was infected with very dark magic and in her grief, kind of tried to end the world," she tried to state the last part as undramatically as possible, but given the looks she was getting around the table had failed, "her best friends managed to stop her and Willow was able to expel the dark magic. But Buffy's watcher, Giles, thinks it would be useful for Willow to spend time with witches and wizards and learn how to use magic in _moderation_.

"So I know it's asking a lot but – I was hoping Willow could stay here for a while? I will take full responsibility for her and I know she sounds like a lot but really she's quite sweet." Hermione paused, imploring Arthur and Molly to agree.

The couple looked at one another and communicated silently before Molly turned to her smiling softly, "Of course dear."

* * *

"I'm so sorry about Tara." Hermione said sadly as she guided Giles and Willow towards the living room. Giles was blinking rapidly, taking in the quirky home while Willow just looked on in wonder.

"Thank you." Willow responded softly and then gulped nervously as she prepared to meet actual _wand waving witches and wizards!_

"Willow," Hermione started as they entered the living room – three people who had been sitting quietly immediately stood up, "these are your hosts – Arthur and Molly Weasley." Polite handshakes were shared, Molly the epitome of a good host. "And this is Ron." Willow's eyes lit in recognition at this.

"Oh! You're Ron of the 'Harry, Ron and I' in Hermione's stories!" Willow babbled excitedly.

Ron and Hermione laughed, the utterance breaking the ice so to speak. Hermione introduced Giles and the group went on a tour of the house – Willow would be staying with Hermione and Ginny and she was amazed to see the room expand before her very eyes to accommodate her.

"Your magic is incredible." Willow stated in awe to no one in particular. Hermione laughed softly to herself at this, thinking of all the times Draco used earth magic to her wonder.

* * *

_Part 2: Quidditch!_

Willow was having a surprisingly good time during what she was internally calling her 'magical rehab'. She spent a lot of time with Molly, using her ability to commune with the earth to assist with her gardening and helping her with basic chores. The pair got on surprisingly well and Molly found herself struggling to reconcile the sweet woman with the dark creature who supposedly considered ending the world.

Meanwhile, Hermione was able to train openly. She tried to spend as much time as she could continuing to practice wielding magic while slaying – knowing on some level that this reprieve would come to an end. She had overheard order members discussing plans for retrieving Harry from the Dursley's and knew the moment they were united there would be a metaphorical ticking clock counting off the minutes until their departure.

But for now, Hermione found herself enjoying the summer. Ginny had joined her slayer training sessions early on – expressing an interest in being able to fight 'the muggle way' as she called it. Even Ron, who was typically happy to leave all the slaying stuff to Hermione, Draco and Harry, had joined.

Three weeks into her stay, Willow and Hermione were sitting on a picnic blanket as the Weasleys and a few of their friends started a game of quidditch.

"Why aren't you playing?" Willow asked.

Hermione physically shuddered at the thought, "I _do not_ like flying." She started.

"Really?" Willow asked, eyes wide.

"Yes – we had to take flying lessons our first year. Let's just say – I like having my feet firmly on the earth." Hermione responded, earning a soft chuckle from the red-haired wiccan.

Willow watched the game intently, completely fascinated, "I just can't believe witches and wizards have an entire _culture_ – I mean, you have your own sport!" She watched as Ginny shouted in triumph having caught the golden snitch. The group came down to the ground, exhausted but all smiles.

"Willow," Ginny brought the group over, "these are some of our friends – Alicia Spinnet, Lee Jordan, Oliver Wood and Angelina Johnson." Willow smiled and shook their hands.

"So – what did you think?" Fred or George asked her, grinning.

"It was amazing!" Willow responded earnestly, earning herself big smiles from the twins.

"Wanna give it a go?" The other one asked, offering up his broom. Willow's heart raced – suddenly remembering _the last time she flew_

"Uh-" she stumbled, looking at Hermione for help.

"Not now George." Hermione guessed and attempted to give the twins a _look_ to back off. They did (they both had recently developed a healthy fear of the slayer) and the group migrated to the house where Molly had prepared an epic lunch spread.

"You're welcome to try flying – I'm not even sure if you would be able to. But I can't imagine it would hurt." Hermione started after the group was out of earshot.

"I just – when I," Willow gulped, "went all dark, I flew. And it felt really good. I guess I'm just afraid." She finished, looking at the ground and unconsciously wilting a few dandelions beneath her hand.

"I understand." Hermione responded earnestly. She watched the witch now wave her hand and bring the small flower back to life. "How do you do that so easily?"

Willow shrugged, "it wasn't always like this but – now I can just _feel_ it – the earth and its magic."

Hermione tried to emulate. Both Willow and Draco had attempted to teach Hermione some earth magic over the years with limited success. She managed to move the flower just slightly before giving up in frustration.

"Oh well – c'mon – let's get in before foods all gone!"

* * *

_Part 3: When Harry met Willow_

The order was able to retrieve Harry from the Dursley's with only a few mild injuries (thanks to Snape's continued effectiveness as a double spy). Hermione anxiously dismounted the thestral and ran to hug her friend.

"Harry!" She exclaimed, relieved, "come on!" She dragged him into the kitchen. "This is Willow." She introduced the red witch who was reading some potions magazine.

"It's nice to meet you." Harry responded warmly before more Weasleys landed and invaded his personal bubble.

Willow stepped away from him then, her face masked in confusion but no one was really paying attention to her. A few minutes later, Hermione was at her side, "Sorry – I'm sure this is a bit overwhelming – I should have warned you."

Willow shook her head, "it's not that – it's Harry," she paused and looked at the boy in question, "there's something – strange about him."

"What is it?" Hermione asked, on alert.

"I can see his aura – but there's something else – something dark in the way." She finished.

"Can you tell what it is?" Hermione questioned.

Willow tilted her head to the side, attempting just that before shaking her head. "No – but it doesn't look like a recent development. His aura and the darkness seem relatively – entwined? No – that's not the right word. Comfortable maybe?" She looked at Hermione's frown and gave a light smile, "Oh, don't worry. I'm sure it's fine."

"Yes." Hermione deadpanned, "you just told me my best friend, who seems fated to either kill or be killed by a dark lord, has some sort of darkness in him. No big deal."

"That's the spirit!" Willow smiled, completely ignoring the younger girl's snark.

After a few easy conversations with the aforementioned boy, any worry Willow had about him dissipated. Harry joined Hermione's training and as she watched the pair, Willow couldn't help feeling a sense of nostalgia for her life in Sunnydale.

They were all having dinner – a sort of 'welcome' dinner for Bill and Fleur who had arrived to begin wedding preparations – when Bill asked a rather logical question: "How did you two meet?". They had been surprised when Bill, faced with the newfound knowledge that Hermione was a slayer, seemed well versed in what a slayer _actually_ was. It appeared in his travels for Gringotts he had seen and heard many things which caused him to question the wizarding world's prevailing wisdom.

Willow smiled but remained frozen. Hermione finally spoke up, "She's best friends with the other slayer."

Bill nodded looking suspicious, "Well – yes, but how did you meet the other slayer?" He asked, "I mean, you've mentioned having limited exposure to the watcher's council."

"We have a mutual friend." Hermione confirmed. She looked over at Ron and Harry who were looking at each other and _laughing_. She tried to force them to shut up with a strong glare but this only seemed to encourage them further. "Sorry – that's all I can say." Hermione shrugged, and luckily the subject was dropped.

Hermione picked at her dinner, avoiding her friends looks as she considered their _mutual_ friend. She hadn't heard from Draco all summer, except for his notations in their notebook confirming his workouts and an occasional brief text usually just saying he missed her.

That night, Hermione was shaken suddenly by a short scream. Both she and Ginny looked at each other before rushing to Willow's side.

"From beneath you it devours." Willow whispered, her hair and eyes a deep black. Hermione's eyes went wide but almost instantly Willow's features shifted to their usual color. She looked at Hermione and said softly, "I think I need to go home now."


	11. The bringers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing
> 
> Author's note: We have quite a time jump! Hermione will explain where they are at in the context of Deathly Hallows but just a warning.

_What would have been 7th year if they hadn't ditched school - April_

Hermione was _bored!_

Sure, they had broken into the ministry and almost died in Godric's Hollow but they had now been camping in the woods for months and she was bored out of her mind.

The insane slayer dreams didn't help either. She was in regular touch with the Sunnydale crew and knew what was going on – it seemed _all_ of their battles were coming to a head. But what was she doing? Camping. Reading. Horcrux hunting.

"Ugh." She shouted as she buried her stake into yet another vampire. Ron had accompanied her this time and was looking notably bored.

"Is this what it was like when you would go into the forest with Malfoy and Harry?" He asked, stretching from his seat as they moved on.

"Well – Draco usually likes to critique my form or failure to use magic. But yeah – this is pretty typical." Hermione shrugged.

They were stuck – she had to admit it. 3 horcruxes had been eliminated: the journal, the ring, and the locket. They surmised Voldemort's snake to be the 4th. They assumed there must be 2 more – given Voldemort's proclivity towards the number 7 (with his own soul being the last piece). But other than assuming that the last two were likely connected to Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw they had nothing. And she had worries about an 8th – but Harry said he wasn't willing to "go there" until the rest were taken care of.

"I'm so bored!" Hermione exclaimed, throwing her stake in her bag as she and Ron huffed back into their tent.

Ron grumbled in agreement. She could only imagine how he felt – at least Hermione had slaying to keep her sane, and research. He was being a good sport though – which made Hermione feel a little guilty.

They walked in and were suddenly on high alert when they heard a scream from Harry.

"Harry! What is it?" Hermione asked, concerned.

"I had a horrible dream." He explained, confused as he put his glasses on and blinked at his two best friends.

"What was it?" She asked.

"I think I saw bringers." He answered thoughtfully, "I saw them gather and I think I saw the ubervamps you told me about." He looked directly at Hermione, "And I heard it."

She nodded, "From beneath you it devours?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "Hermione – why am I having slayer dreams?"

* * *

Two days later, Hermione would look back in nostalgia at the feeling of boredom. They had just set up camp in a wooded area that looked strikingly similar to every other place they had set up camp when she noticed it.

"Is it me or is it too quiet out here?" Ron commented. Hermione nodded her agreement.

"I don't like it." She confirmed. After months of camping in the woods, they had grown accustomed to the sounds of nature – the nocturnal beasts, the ever present insects chirping. They had barely enough time to whip out their wands when they heard the quiet patter of footsteps nearby.

"Bringers!" Hermione shouted – recognizing their foe.

The three stood in a circle facing outward. Hermione quickly counted – _7._ _Why is it always 7_ she would later ponder but at the moment she was preparing for battle.

The first bringer made to attack her but she let out a silent spell before following up with a roundhouse kick, knocking the creature off course. She was preparing to stake the bringer when she felt another preparing to attack her from behind. She kicked back and swung around, quickly stupefying it which only appeared to cause the being to slow down.

"Damn it," she cursed and watched Harry and Ron battle their own foes. She quickly went back to it – retrieving a knife from her waistband to replace the stake.

Knife firmly in hand, she renewed her efforts and quickly managed to dispose of 3 of the bringers, finding a quick _Incendio_ spell effective. Her friends had each killed 1 and the 2 remaining bringers had retreated into a defensive stance. Hermione was feeling reasonably confident when Harry yelped.

She turned to her friend and saw what had alarmed him – a kind looking woman with red hair stood to his left. She smiled at him indulgently as a mother would their toddler. "Harry – I've missed you." She said with tears in her eyes. Harry put his wand down and stared at her mesmerized.

"Harry!" Hermione yelled, while she and Ron continued to battle the bringers, "It's the first! It's not your mother!" Hermione stabbed another bringer in the heart and watched with satisfaction as it fell down.

Harry wasn't listening, "Harry – you've worked so hard. You shouldn't have this life. You deserve to be free." The woman was telling him.

"Mom?" He said, so hopeful.

"Yes Harry. It's me." She smiled back.

"But I can't be free – not with him out there." Harry responded sadly.

"HARRY!" Hermione screamed as she and Ron faced the final and apparently strongest of the bringers. The Bringer used its elbow to knock Ron out and deftly dodged a spell cast by Hermione. She spared just a second to confirm Ron was still alive before continuing.

"You don't have to fight him Harry." The apparition told him. Harry looked like he wanted to believe her.

Hermione reached out and summoned the sword of Gryffindor and made short work of decapitating the final bringer. The specter talking to Harry immediately morphed into that of Dumbledore.

Harry cried out at the loss. "You foolish girl." The specter said, now looking at Hermione, "You think you can make a difference?" It scoffed in a very un-Dumbledore like way. "My dear," he said in a patronizing tone, "You have no idea what's coming. You are but a pawn in a game far larger than you know."

Hermione looked at it, stunned by the appearance of her former headmaster, even knowing the truth of what he was. "We'll stop you," she said, trying to sound more sure of herself than she really was.

He laughed – now a jovial laugh very reminiscent of the real Dumbledore. "Of course you will. It will be the last act of the slayer. And then your kind will leave this world forever."

"Why are you here then? If I'm just a pawn?" Hermione asked. She could now hear Ron stirring and Harry helping their confused friend up.

"Oh, just doing a favor for a friend." And he smiled and vanished. The trio looked around, remaining still at the being's last words.

And suddenly, the _whoosh!_ of apparation surrounded them. Hermione had only moments to summon her essentials and light the rest of their camp on fire before they were captured.

"Well well well, if it isn't Harry Potter." A voice snarled. Hermione darted her eyes, _8_ she counted. She debated if she could take on 8 wizards – trying to imagine what Draco would say if he were here.

With the snatchers' eyes focused solely on Harry she kneed the man where no man wishes to be kneed and immediately stupified another. _OK – 2 down_ she thought, instinctively casting a protego and working her way to her next target.

"I wouldn't try anything girl." Another voice smiled cruelly at her. She gulped and watched as two snatchers had their wands held to Harry and Ron's throats. Hermione looked at her friends and nodded her head – putting her hands in the air as two snatchers roughly immobilized her.

Moments later, they were apparated away. They landed about 100 feet from some mansion – judging by the lack of driveway it must have been a wizarding dwelling.

"Welcome to Malfoy Manor." The snatcher on her right whispered cruelly in her ear.

"Shit." She whispered.

Harry and Ron, equally incapacitated, looked at her with questioning eyes. "We're at Malfoy Manor." She told them; her voice steady.

Their eyes went wide but they seemed to relax just the slightest at the knowledge.

The group awkwardly stumbled to the front door where Narcissa and Bellatrix were standing awaiting them. Narcissa looked outwardly calm and collected while her sister was _literally_ cackling in glee.

Hermione looked at Narcissa who gave her just the smallest shake of her head. _Shit_ Hermione thought again – he wasn't here. She debated her options – fighting seemed out of the question given her and her friends lack of wands. Running was a viable option – _she_ could get away but likely Harry and Ron would be trapped. She debated it nonetheless – run and get help maybe? Though she realized that while the _current_ situation was not ideal she actually _did_ need to be here – Malfoy manor had the only open floo connection to Sunnydale. Of course, she had been hoping to come voluntarily and when Draco's psychotic Aunt was out.

"Dear sister – I must alert my husband and son of this good news." _Brilliant!_ Hermione thought, internally relieved at Narcissa's quick thinking.

"Oh – do be quick! I'm sure they don't want to miss out on the fun." Bellatrix snarled. Narcissa gave the trio a quick look over and then an almost imperceptible nod before heading into the house.

They were roughly led into the house, into some sort of formal drawing room that only really rich people seemed to have the need for when Bellatrix saw a glimmer of metal sticking out from Hermione's bag.

"What is that?" She said, alarmed, and grabbed the sword. "You mudblood filth!" She screamed and back handed Hermione.

"Hermione!" Harry and Ron were now yelling. "Get away from her!"

Hermione rolled her eyes at her friends. She was fairly certain yelling wouldn't accomplish anything at this point.

She climbed to her feet and stared at the witch – whose face, already a mask of cruelty seemed to twist further, her wand aimed directly at Hermione's head. Without really thinking, relying on pure instinct Hermione kicked at the witch's wrist, hitting just the right spot forcing her to let go of her wand which fell neatly into Hermione's right hand.

"What was that?" Hermione said before kicking the woman in the stomach, sending off a quick stunner and then stalking towards her friends. Now only two snatchers remained – the rest had gone off to continue – Hermione wasn't sure but she assumed – snatching things. She yelled "down!" at her friends and then, after ducking to avoid a spell from the thug holding Ron on her right, turned and jabbed the snatcher on the left, using enough force to cause him to lose consciousness. She had just turned her wand back and was preparing to take down their final foe when she felt absolute and total pain bury into her right side.

" _Crucio!"_ Bellatrix's voice rang through the room, Hermione's own wand pointed at her side. "What else did you steal from my vault you vile creature?!" She belted at Hermione. The sole remaining snatcher managed to grab a hold of Ron and Harry who were once again screaming at her.

And then – "What's going on in here?" Hermione heard the ever-calm voice of Draco Malfoy walk in. Bellatrix stopped her attack and both she and Hermione turned to face the newcomer. Draco stood, put together in his death eater robes, arms behind his back as he faced his aunt, as if they were discussing a cup of tea or something equally mundane.

"Just having a little fun with the Mudblood dear nephew!" She cackled because apparently that was how she communicated.

"About that," he said sadly and then looked at Hermione and gave a quick nod. At once he mumbled something under his breath which completely debilitated his aunt, causing her to collapse on the floor. In the meantime, Hermione had raced over and, using Draco's distraction, incapacitated the final death eater. Draco took a moment to ensure all of their enemies were effectively down for the count before racing over to Hermione.

The pair embraced, "I'm sorry I wasn't here – I only just got your text." He told her whispering in her ear. They stood that way for a few moments before regretfully pulling apart.

"Get a room!" Ron yelled but smiled as he approached the pair, giving Draco a solid handshake and hugging Hermione in relief.

"We didn't mean to come when we did – we were trying to get in touch with you to find a reasonable time to use your floo." Hermione explained.

"What happened?" Draco asked.

Hermione shook her head, "I don't know if we have time, I need to go to Sunnydale. And these two need to go."

"Before you go – I got your message about a relic of Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw – my father confirmed that the dark lord once gave my aunt Hufflepuff's Cup." Draco told Harry.

Harry and Ron looked to each other, "Any idea where she put it?" Harry asked.

Draco shrugged but Hermione perked up, "I think it's in her vault." The three looked at her confused and she explained, "she freaked out the minute she saw the sword – I'm not sure if the sword _was_ in her vault but she seemed terrified that something else was missing."

Draco retrieved the trio's wands and quickly distributed them. He looked at his aunt and shrugged, grabbing her wand and handing it to Harry, "not sure how you can get into her vault but you'll need this if you have any chance." Harry thanked him before looking sadly at Hermione.

"Are you two going to be alright?" Hermione asked.

Harry and Ron smiled softly and gave her quick smiles before being shooed out.

Draco turned to Hermione, the pair smiling at one another until they heard the tell-tale sign of stirring.

"Shit." Draco cursed and grabbed Hermione's hand, urging her to the fireplace. The two looked at each other again and Hermione, with a quick _swoosh_ and a green flame was gone. 


	12. The Dark Lord

_Year 7 - June_

Draco stormed into the room of requirement – ignoring the curious looks around him and the confused greetings. He reached Harry and Ron, both of whom looked quite disheveled having just crawled out of the freaky Hog's Head picture.

"Hermione?" Harry asked looking at Draco, confused and skeptical.

"Oh – shit sorry." Draco said and waved a hand over his face, rising half a foot and returning to his natural form. Harry merely rolled his eyes and did his best to ignore the confusion and wand pointing occurring around them.

"Is she here?" Harry asked.

Malfoy shook his head, "She just called – apparently they have a _plan_." Malfoy's drawl showing clearly what he thought of that _plan_.

"What is it?" Harry asked, dreading the response. The pair ignored Ron trying to explain to everyone around them that it was cool – Malfoy was not _really_ a proper death eater so everything was going to be OK.

"Apparently they are going to turn all of the potentials into slayers and hope that somehow fixes everything." Draco looked very dubious, "also – they have a 'magic pendant' that Buffy's ex got from an _evil law firm_ that is supposedly going to help."

"So the good news is if it doesn't work then it doesn't really matter what we do here, right?" Harry suggested optimistically.

"Yes – because the world will be hell," Draco rolled his eyes, "she indicated this would be going down about two hours from now – the timing is all very suspicious with you showing up here _now_. But I did as she asked and I've brought you stakes, holy water, crosses, the works."

Harry nodded, "Thanks – what else is going on? And why were you disguised as Hermione?"

"Well – funny you should ask! I have a message for you. Long story short, it seems that the elder wand has not quite taken a liking to Voldemort so he kindoftriedtokillme. But I survived and Snape gave me a message for you. And for some reason Hermione is the only person I can manage to shift into without polyjuice or other wand waving assistance." Draco shrugged nonchalantly.

Harry's eyes went wide, "What?"

"Yes, I know, the irony. I've spent the last year trying to be the most average soldier in his army so he would just _ignore_ me and not murder me but what are you going to do." Draco commiserated.

"No – I mean – what the hell happened? And what's the message?" Harry asked.

Draco sighed and explained.

* * *

_About an hour ago_

Draco was lucky that the evil overlord he served under happened to be loud and dramatic. His father had received word that Voldemort was going to kill Draco – something to do with Dumbledore's wand not working. Whatever it was, he realized he only had 3 options: 1) Somehow fake his own death; 2) Convince Voldemort the wand was working effectively without killing him or; 3) somehow avoid Voldemort until the whole thing was over.

Unfortunately, he was already being summoned. Feeling his dark mark warming, he figured he'd just go with option 1 and headed out to the shrieking shack where Voldemort had posted up for the time being, "My Lord," Draco said with a _deep_ bow, "you summoned me?"

"Draco Malfoy. One of my most…average soldiers." Voldemort remarked.

"How can I serve you master?" Draco asked, his eyes never leaving Voldemort's feet.

"I'm afraid you will not be able to serve me anymore," Voldemort said regretfully. Draco looked up in (fake) surprise, "It's a bit awkward but it seems by having you kill the old man, this," he brought the wand to eye height and looked at it longingly, "will not obey me."

"I don't understand my lord." Draco responded in (false) confusion. However, Voldemort's incessant need to explain his evil doing gave him just _enough_ time to mumble a protection spell – hopefully one that would save him.

"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort (dramatically) bellowed and watched with regret as Draco collapsed in a pile on the ground. With all the evil bravado he could muster, Voldemort gathered his minions and stormed into the forest.

"Ugh" Draco let out once he felt 95% sure Voldemort was gone. He opened his eyes and saw a (shocked) Severus Snape standing over him.

"How?" Snape asked.

Draco shrugged, "Magic." He said and smiled at a memory. In reality, it was a wiccan protection spell that put his essence just out of phase, allowing him to survive an otherwise fatal curse. But he didn't _really_ feel like explaining that.

Snape helped him up, "I need your help".

"Of course you do." Draco deadpanned.

Snape rolled his eyes, "I've been watching you – I don't know all the pieces but I know some of them. You are helping the witch slayer are you not?"

Draco was impressed – even Dumbledore hadn't figured it out in the end, "Yes," and because he couldn't help it he added, "but she's a witch who slays not a witch slayer!"

Snape rolled his eyes again, "I need you to give a message to Potter…"

* * *

Back in the room of requirement, Harry looked at him expectantly, "and what was the message?!"

Draco shrugged, "he told me to tell you that you are the final Horcrux."

Ron looked upset while Harry appeared defeated. Everyone else looked confused.

"So I'm assuming this means something to you?" Draco brushed his hand over his hair.

"It's something Hermione theorized after Willow met me." Harry responded, which of course did nothing to clear up matters, "Did he say anything else?" Harry asked.

"Well, yes, something about 'that's why Harry and the Dark Lord were always connected' or other drivel." Draco recollected. He looked at the wonder twins and realized he must have said something critical when suddenly Voldemort's voice bellowed throughout the castle demanding Harry Potter's presence in an hour.

Harry looked from Ron back to Draco, "the timing is…"

"Suspicious." Draco agreed.

"Can you help us?" Harry asked.

"Yes, so about that – happy to help. But just can't have this face. So if it's OK with you," and with the wave of his hand his body transformed back into that of Hermione. Draco smiled with a sort of "ta da" as the entire room took a step back, freaked out he was able to change forms with a wave of his hand.

Harry rolled his eyes, "she's going to kill you."

Draco smiled (as Hermione), "I know".

After a quick jaunt to the Chamber of Secrets to liberate a basilisk fang and through the room of hidden things to retrieve some diadem (though Draco continued to have no clue why they were randomly stabbing old artifacts), the trio met up with the rest of the resistance in the great hall. Those who had been in the room of requirement gave Draco a wide berth.

The room was oddly quiet for the sheer number of witches and wizards. A dark sense of foreboding permeated throughout as the fighters of the light realized this would be their final reprieve.

That is, until a sound exploded from Draco's pocket.

Da de dum duh da de dum duh da de dum duh dah! (aka the classic Nokia ring tone)

"How did I not put this bloody thing on silent?" Draco cursed to himself, answering the call, much to the shock of those around him.

"What?" He asked, and then nearly smacked himself because he was _still_ functionally Hermione at the moment. He quickly waved a hand in front of himself and changed back to Draco – causing _a lot_ of panic in the room which Draco conveniently ignored.

"Sorry it's me now. What's up?" He asked the phone.

"Why did you just have Hermione's voice?" Dawn asked curiously.

"No reason. Practicing impressions. I didn't fake my death and then run around the castle pretending to be Hermione." He confirmed.

"We'll – talk about that later – she told me to call you – we're all set up. We expect to initiate the slayers in 20 minutes." She told him.

He turned to Potter, "20 minutes on their end - how many more minutes before your hour is up?"

"15."

"Interesting – our shindig is looking to go down right around the same time - thanks for the heads up. And stay alive! Please Dawn."

"Yeah you too big bro."

He hung up the phone and looked on at the shocked faces, "Yes. That's right. Draco Malfoy – secretly on the side of good. Right. Moving on."

While it was substantially more difficult to help with _his_ face, he nonetheless tried to educate the witches and wizards on the supernatural threat. While most people seemed dubious of him, Harry and Ron's tacit acceptance of him seemed to more or less break the ice.

"Malfoy – have you seen Harry?" Ron and Ginny ran up to him just as he was debating the merits of holy water with Luna Lovegood.

"No," Draco looked around and then looked at his watch, "seems as though he's trying to be 'brave'," he finished in air quotes. The order, realizing Potter was missing began preparing for what was looking to be a final battle, one way or the other. They filtered out of the hall and onto the grounds.

"Harry Potter is dead." Voldemort bellowed. Draco looked at his watch again _2 minutes_ he thought. He saw his mother and father standing by the death eaters, looking warily into the forest. Draco transfigured his robes into a hoodie and covered his hair so he could stay incognito.

It all happened _very_ fast. Suddenly Neville Longbottom was dramatically halving the wretched snake with the Sword of Gryffindor. Voldemort was only angry for a moment before waving his wand at the sky and lifting his arms in some sort of gesture of omniscience. Clouds covered the sun that was already nearing the horizon. On cue, the vampires came out of the forest, _hundreds_ of them. And then Draco's watch beeped and he _felt_ it and based on the expressions of the witches and wizards around him he wasn't alone.

Something happened to his magic, he couldn't tell you what but he was only 10 feet from Ginny Weasley who went from sobbing on the ground to standing up with a strength he'd only seen in two girls before. "Weasley." He shouted. She turned around somewhat disoriented and he tossed her a stake. She nodded in understanding.

Then Draco noticed there were others – Luna Lovegood and few a girls he didn't know. He ensured they each had a stake and joined their fight. While the order fought the death eaters, he and the slayers worked to keep at bay the forces of darkness.

A few minutes passed when he heard Potter's voice. He wanted to claim he wasn't surprised but he _was_. The rest of the battle seemed to come to a pause – even the vampires held as the two wizards faced each other.

"Voldemort – it's time to end this!" Potter stalked the dark lord.

Voldemort twirled his wand, "I agree."

"Your snake is dead. You have no more horcruxes."

Voldemort laughed, "you think a child like you is going to stop me?"

"I've stopped you before."

"But this time I'm no longer bogged down by your wand's brother." Voldemort sneered.

"No? But does the Elder wand truly obey you?" Harry asked, the two circling each other.

"It does now. I killed Draco Malfoy." Voldemort looked about ready to cast a spell when Draco, unable to help himself, stepped over within Voldemort's line of sight and removed his hoodie – giving him a jovial wave, before returning to coach the new slayers. "No matter," Voldemort continued, "I defeated him in battle. The wand now responds to me."

"But you are assuming the wand ever belonged to Draco." Harry pointed out.

"He murdered Albus Dumbledore." Voldemort drawled.

"But did he really?" Harry contemplated, "I was there – invisible, but I didn't see Malfoy kill Dumbledore. I saw Draco help him die."

Voldemort's eyes narrowed, "I will still defeat you boy!"

Harry gave a small smile in defeat, "You can try. But – I think the wand will still be loyal to Dumbledore."

"You naïve boy – still with blind faith towards that old man. I have the support of the first evil itself!" Voldemort sneered and yelled the killing curse while Harry, being _classic Potter_ disarmed him. Voldemort went down in a green flash.

_And then the Dark Lord rose again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops? One more chapter after this and then a short and silly epilogue.


	13. The First

_Literally right after the last chapter ended_

_And then the Dark Lord rose again._

The grey clouds darkened in the sky and the vampires renewed their attack. The slayers continued to do their best to hold the line – now with the elder Malfoys and some of the order members at their side. Draco – recognizing what had happened, ran towards Harry and Voldemort.

"Oh my lord I knew you couldn't be dead!" Draco exclaimed with false bravado, stepping directly in front of Harry Potter and shocking/confusing the remaining crowd who had remained still, "your eminent superiority and –" he paused and broke into laughter, "I'm sorry I just – couldn't keep that up." Malfoy sneered. "What am I supposed to call you? Mr. The First? Voldefirst? Firstemort?"

Harry's eyes went wide with recognition and he backed away. Malfoy used his eyes to direct Harry to take over with the slayers. Voldefirst's chilling laughter echoed through the field. "I recognize you – you're that boy – my dear Buffy's brother and the Witch Slayer's watcher."

Draco furrowed his eyebrows in apparent pain, carefully placing his thumb and index finger on his sinuses, "she's _not_ a witch slayer! That implies she slays witches! She is a witch who happens to be a vampire slayer – or if you prefer, a vampire slaying witch."

"Regardless, your Witch Slayer isn't here, is she? Last I saw she and big sis were stuck in the hellmouth and it was about to go bye bye. Too bad." Voldefirst smirked.

The order of the phoenix, still not quite sure what was going on, snapped into action, sending spell after spell towards the risen Voldemort. Draco hit the floor with gusto and waited about 3 minutes for the bombardment to stop. Sharply rolling his eyes he bemoaned, "Your spells won't do lasting damage he's already dead."

Draco yelled louder, "It's not Voldemort – it's some primordial evil possessing him." This didn't help but the order members backed away regardless. A few seemed to get their wits about them and started incapacitating the last of the death eaters, taking advantage of the strange, if confusing, turn of events.

"You know, I'm still a little unhappy with big sister and your witch slayer for derailing plan A. But I've been working on this for too long to see it fail." Voldefirst gave Draco a _look_ which made him realize he was screwed.

"Oh you want me – give me your best shot!" Draco shouted bravely and then _ran._ In spite of what Voldefirst said, he still had faith that she would show up and he just needed to give her whatever time he could. He had gotten maybe 5 meters when he felt the first punch hit him and was thrown back an embarrassing distance. The crowd audibly winced hearing the tell tale _crack_ of limbs breaking.

Voldefirst stepped over Draco, head tilted to the right, "I've been waiting an eon to get a foot hold in this world – constantly thwarted by the Powers," he paused for dramatic effect, smiling as he saw the new slayers struggling to battle the forces of darkness, witches and wizards bodies strewn across the battlefield, "You thought this man was evil? You thought _he_ was a threat? Oh, I can see your thoughts – and you're wrong. Your witch slayer isn't coming."

Before Draco could respond, an image of Buffy appeared to his left, "Oh poor baby Drakey – do you really think she ever really cared for you?" the first taunted him. Draco closed his eyes and reminded himself this was _not Buffy_. Voldefirst grabbed Draco's shirt and looked about ready to break him in half when a sharp gust of wind grabbed the attention of the entire field.

Draco let out a sigh of relief and laughed. "How?" Voldefirst asked him.

"Did you really think we didn't plan for this? That we didn't know?" Draco smirked.

* * *

_**~1 month ago** _

" _Hermione – why am I having slayer dreams?" Harry asked_

" _You're not," Hermione suddenly realized, "You-know-who is. And they're not slayer dreams. It's the First."_

" _What?" Harry and Ron asked in unison._

" _Don't you see? We've been viewing them as two separate threats but they're not. The First uses death to interact on our plane of existence. It's able to use the specters of those who have died." Hermione started, finally putting the pieces together._

" _You-know-who is some sort of anomaly – not wholly alive but not wholly dead because some of his soul exists. I'm not sure how – but I think the first is using him for something." Hermione furrowed her eyebrows in frustration – trying to put the pieces together._

" _Firenze!" She exclaimed, causing the boys to jump, "He said to me – the first time I went hunting in the forest – the prophecy is not the end. I didn't know what he was talking about at the time but now – with this – I think the prophecy is the end of you-know-who but – I think we need to be prepared for the First to come_ _ **here**_ _once you-know-who is defeated."_

" _But how are we supposed to stop the First?" Harry looked genuinely panicked now, "We're barely finding the Horcruxes and dealing with the corporeal villain as it is!"_

" _I don't know Harry – but I think I need to go to Sunnydale. Before it's too late." Hermione started texting Draco, hoping he would be able to help them._

_**Malfoy Manor – 2 days later** _

_Malfoy and Hermione looked at one another as they stood in front of the fireplace, knowing they had only moments before all hell would break loose. Malfoy mumbled while throwing some herbs on the ground and the world around them froze._

_Without preamble he grabbed her face and kissed her – it was soft at first but quickly grew urgent. Hermione sighed into his mouth and then gently pushed against him, breaking the kiss._

" _I think the First is using Voldemort." Hermione whispered quickly to Malfoy, "I'm not sure exactly how but – it all fits. Harry's strange Bringer dream, Firenze's cryptic message. I need to go to Sunnydale."_

_Malfoy looked thoughtful and nodded, "I'll do everything I can on our end."_

" _I'll be there." Hermione promised and gave him a final kiss before flooing to Sunnydale._

* * *

Before Draco's very eyes, Hermione and Buffy appeared on the battlefield, each holding onto the mythical scythe and covered in dirt, blood and guts from their battle in the hellmouth.

Not allowing Voldefirst the opportunity to further explain his evilness, Hermione physically separated him from Draco, kicking the First in the chest and knocking him 10 feet away.

"Nice of you to show up." Draco commented.

"Soooorrrrryyyy." Hermione responded, offering him a hand, "Just saving the world, destroying small towns."

"'Mione – catch!" Buffy called to her – throwing her the Scythe before racing to the forest to help the new slayers. Draco could feel it the second the weapon was back in Hermione's hands, as could pretty much every person on the battlefield. Pure magic and goodness flowed through the scythe as Hermione wielded the weapon. She began stalking Voldefirst -

"Oh – and Hermione?" Draco interrupted her, causing her to pause and look back at him, "He called you a _Witch Slayer_."

"That son of a –" Hermione took a deep breath and continued forward, Voldefirst only just getting to his feet, his face a mask of fear for the first time. Looking to her right, Hermione noticed Buffy helping the new slayers hold back the mass of vampires. But she knew – this was _her_ battle – this was why _she was called._ "I am not a witch slayer!" She spun and attempted to hit her target but he moved out of the way at the last second.

"I don't understand why this is such a sticking point – you're a slayer and a witch." Voldefirst attempted to banter.

"It's a grammar issue." She attempted again, this time using the ax to effectively slice through a chunk of its torso.

Voldefirst cackled again and finally spoke, "that's enough." He started and pushed his hands towards her. Whatever she had been expected didn't happen, instead she found her mind filled with her worst nightmares. She stood, her hands on her head, trying to keep from screaming.

"Hermione!" she vaguely heard Draco's yells from her right. She was still stuck in her head, seeing images of Draco dead, seeing Harry and Ron gone, seeing a dystopic future filled with the most horrible creatures she imagined, "Hermione – it's in your head!"

She started to get a hold of herself and looked at the creature, feeling a bit more confident as she saw the strain Voldefirst seemed to go through to keep up the deluge. Hermione held onto the scythe and focused, feeling the air around her swirl and the nightmares begin to peter out. Before the First could figure out Hermione had regained her composure, she struck the being while simultaneously casting a spell with the scythe, causing Voldefirst to light on fire from the inside and giving her the moment she needed.

She mumbled a few words with her eyes closed, holding the scythe and then, when she felt the power build up, she lifted it above her head yelling "solarum!"

Everyone covered their eyes as a flash of artificial sunlight encompassed the field. Instantaneously, the vampires turned to dust and Voldefirst let out an enraged yell, causing the very ground beneath them to quake.

Voldefirst and Hermione continued to duel, the First using brute force and elemental control while Hermione continued to use the scythe to amplify her powers. Meanwhile, the vampires no longer a threat, Buffy and Harry brought the other slayers around.

"Hey little brother." Buffy said, patting Draco on his bad shoulder. She sat next to Harry as the new slayers began to circle Hermione and Voldefirst.

"Is someone going to explain what's going on?" Ron joined the three, inadvertently checking Buffy out, earning himself a glare from Draco.

"We found the scythe in Sunnydale." Buffy explained, pointing to the weapon Hermione was expertly wielding. "When I used it, suddenly the uber vamps were like regular vamps. But when Hermione touched it, it was something else entirely.

"We realized, by accident really, that the scythe seems to be some sort of conduit for magic – kind of like your wands only a lot more powerful." She paused and they watched as she indeed used basic spells with explosive power.

"How did you get here?" Harry asked now, "you can't apparate onto Hogwarts."

Buffy smiled at Draco whose eyes went wide in sudden understanding, "There's a hellmouth out there!" He exclaimed.

"Got it kid. Since we were in a hellmouth, we didn't have to apparate through the wards. We just came right here." Buffy confirmed.

"What's happening now?" Harry asked, watching as Hermione gave instructions to the other slayers as they slowly approached her, wands at the ready.

"Dementors." Draco said unhelpfully, "You may remember, Potter, Hermione was a bit obsessed with them in fifth year." They watched now as apparitions floated on the field. Dead loved ones of the slayers infected them as Hermione made every effort to keep the girls focused.

Draco continued, "she was always a bit bothered by dementors. Where did they come from? Why did they exist at all? So that's when we started digging into the origins of magic and demons and what not. The watchers usually start their spiel with 'The world is older than you know' but for someone like Hermione – who has profound respect for science and facts and figures – she found the statement dubious.

"Because we don't just think the universe is as old is it is – or that the earth is for that matter. We have empirical data. Whereas mythology just has that – stories passed down over time. So what makes more sense? The world is magically older than science tells us? Or maybe the stories, likely past down through word of mouth generation after generation, became skewed over time." Draco paused – watching Hermione continue to fight spell for spell with the entity, waiting for her moment.

"Should we help her?" Potter finally thought to ask.

"She needs to do this part herself," Buffy confirmed, watching Hermione surrounded by the newly chosen slayers and nodding at Draco to continue.

"One thing we do know – through first-hand accounts – is that other dimensions do in fact exist. And there are portals between our world and theirs. So, Hermione hypothesized that at one point our dimension and another somehow collided – allowing demons to enter ours."

"What does this have to do with Dementors?" Ron asked, his eyes anxiously darting between Hermione and Ginny.

Draco explained, "many of the demons who came to this world were merely specters – not corporeal. One of these would infect a human to become a vampire. The demon would subvert the human soul but the person's nature would remain – meaning that the vampire would retain characteristics of their hosts. We came to believe that vampires evicted the human soul because it was inherently incompatible with the existence of the vampire and need to feed.

"We believe another of these specters is the Dementor. Hermione theorized that in its native dimension, it likely held a symbiotic relationship with other demons but here on earth, they are constantly in pain and unable to be fully sated.

"So then the next logical question is why a Patronus? What does the charm do exactly? And why does it work? A Patronus is a specter of good for lack of a better term. A charm _so_ light that one must recall a moment of perfect happiness to achieve it. Hermione realized – when a Dementor is attacked by a Patronus, it is as if the wind pushes it away. Our initial assumption was that it was simply deterred but upon further research we determined that the Patronus effectively returns the Dementor to its native dimension." He finished and watched with satisfaction as Harry and Ron's eyes lit up.

Draco gave a knowing smile and turned back to watch the new slayers begin to speak together behind Hermione, "How did you test it?" Harry asked.

"Vampires." Draco confirmed, "During one of our hunts in the forest during 5th year, she used the Patronus charm against a vampire, after putting a tracker on it. Once the charm was issued, the vampire immediately vanished never to return." He paused and looked at Harry, "didn't you ever wonder why Hermione was _so_ insistent you all learn the Patronus Charm 5th year?" Draco smirked and looked at Buffy who picked up the story.

"Hermione believed that the first was similarly a vestige of that world. Of course, it was much more powerful than a vampire and Hermione's attempts at using a Patronus failed comically. Even with the scythe, she wasn't powerful enough. What we needed was more power.

"So we activated the potentials."

"But how did you know some of the witches would be activated? That seems like a huge risk." Ron pointed out.

Buffy smiled now, "You're a Weasley, right?" When Ron nodded, she continued, "when Willow was at your place last summer, she recognized something in Ginny, conducted a teeny test and discovered your sister was a potential." She finished and they all looked on as Hermione and the other witch slayers began chanting _Expecto Patronum_ , "Now you all may want to help." Buffy confirmed, "she needed to weaken it first, but now it's time."

Ron and Harry walked towards the group, uttering the chant. Buffy helped Draco stumble forward and all around them witches and wizards seemed to get the hint and started chanting.

The first's final specters were fading and it was beginning to panic as it felt its foothold on the earth leaving.

Hermione held the scythe out and paused her chanting for a moment, "I should thank you – it was only after being told so many times that I realized what I needed to do to beat you," she paused and looked at the monster with determination, "I _am_ the witch slayer. Now get out of my dimension!" She smiled and pushed the weapon into the earth, shouting "EXPECTO PATRONUM" once more. The ground rumbled, as magic from the earth itself exploded from the scythe. Suddenly, hundreds of specters attacked the first. It took her a moment but Hermione finally realized how she recognized them.

"It's all of the slayers who came before us." Hermione smiled softly as she recognized Faith, Kendra and Ariana. Suddenly, the first was pulled out of Voldemort's body and vanished into thin air. Voldemort's body, no longer animated, unceremoniously collapsed to the ground.

Draco started limping towards Hermione, holding his broken left arm. Hermione rushed and helped him, "Did you see that? I did it!" She exclaimed proudly.

"I mean, yeah, technically…" Draco started getting ready to critique.

"No! You had to hear that – it was an _effective_ quip. A primordial being's last moments before it left our dimension forever was a quip by _me_." Hermione was now beaming in (self) pride.

"I mean – yes – it was a quip. And it wasn't _terrible_ – but that doesn't mean you should just stop working on it." Hermione pouted.

"Are you two really talking about this?" Ron asked incredulously. "I mean – Voldemort's finally dead! And that creepy first thing."

"As a watcher, I take my duties _very_ seriously." Draco explained with utter seriousness.

"Shut up." Hermione smiled and, scythe still dangled from her right hand, grabbed Draco's neck with her left pulling him in for a _very_ public and _very_ long kiss. They heard a combination of catcalls and ews (presumably from Ron).

"Draco Malfoy!" The group heard and turned around – in time to see a bazillion wands aimed at the blonde, "We need to bring you in for questioning…"

"Seriously?!" Draco asked. "Did you all miss – all of this?!"

"I told you that tattoo was a bad idea." Hermione remarked lightly, shaking her head in disappointment. Meanwhile, the pair caught another set of order members taking custody of his parents.

"Mom! Dad!" Buffy yelled. At first Draco was worried she was going to do something stupid but alas, "Smile!" She said and started taking pictures of her parents, who were now rolling their eyes and doing their best to look embarrassed by her antics. "Hermione – can you get in this picture?" She motioned using her hand and Hermione (with the Scythe) posed for a picture with Draco along with the (getting more confused by the second) aurors.

"You came here to destroy the first evil and you brought a camera?!" Draco asked incredulously.

"Yes." Buffy responded, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Then, without preamble, she reached into Draco's pocket and grabbed his cell phone. He gave her a quizzical look to which she responded, "I have to call Dawn and Giles! They probably think we're dead."

"You brought a camera but left your phone…" Draco rolled his eyes and turned back to his captors, "Are you seriously arresting me?"

"Well – we're not sure what's going on but until you can explain it we're going to need you to come with us." Some nondescript order member shrugged.

"Maybe this will teach you not to use my likeness the next time you fake being dead." Was the last thing Draco heard as he was unceremoniously apparated to the ministry.

* * *

"And then you brought me to this prison cell!" Draco exclaimed, his fist hitting the table.

Kingsley Shacklebolt held a hand to his forehead, bracing himself, "this is _not_ a prison cell, it is an empty office in the defense ministry."

"But what is a prison cell anyways?" Draco waxed philosophically, "by putting me here you removed my freedom of movement, thus imprisoning me." Draco crossed his arms over his chest.

"What is he still doing here?" Hermione asked, walking through the door (which Draco now realized was probably unlocked the whole time).

"Telling me a very long and _very_ boring story." Kingsley explained.

Draco scoffed, "Boring?! This story has everything! Action, romance, adventure, mystery! Boring?! I'm leaving."

"Please do." Kingsley held the door open for the pair.

Hermione and Draco were five feet from the non-descript office when, unable to stop herself, Hermione pulled Draco into a closet. "Really?! After leaving me to possible imprisonment or death you now pull me in for – what – a quickie in a supply closet!?" He asked her in mock horror.

"Oh please," Hermione rolled her eyes smiling at him, "You were never in danger. While you were boring Kingsley to death, Harry and Ron explained everything to the rest of the order. Between that and Buffy threatening to bring hundreds of slayers wrath onto the wizarding world if they didn't release your parents, you've been free for a while now."

"So what now? Oh! We can go to Sunnydale! I can do whatever I want!" Draco brightened.

"Yeah, about that…" Draco face fell, "Sunnydale's kind of a sinkhole."

"Really?!"

"Yeah – but good news! Giles says there's a hellmouth in Cleveland so we can go there!" Hermione told him happily.

"Yeah well, as long as I'm still your watcher, I'll be happy wherever I am." Draco said sappily, holding Hermione's gaze and gently brushing his fingers through her hair.

"You'll always be my watcher." She whispered, leaning in to kiss him-

"WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME?" Harry shouted covering his eyes in mock horror.

"Seriously Potter, you walked into a supply closet – what did you think was going to happen?" And without ceremony, Malfoy kicked him out and locked the closet door.

"Will you ever end that spell causing Harry to walk in on us?" Hermione admonished.

"Eh", Draco responded, looking nostalgic, "Now where were we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've reached the end! I have a short/goofy epilogue I plan to post tomorrow but this is the end of the substance of the story. I hope you all enjoyed this plot bunny/personal need for a Dramione BTVS/HP crossover. 


	14. The Quibbler Show (Epilogue)

_Undisclosed Location - 1 month later_

**Luna Lovegood** : Welcome Hermione and Draco! Thank you for agreeing to be my first ever guests on the quibbler show!

**Hermione** : Thank you for having us! I admit I'm a bit nervous.

**Luna** : Oh don't be – the world is dying to understand what happened a month ago at Hogwarts.

**Hermione** : Of course. And might I say – it's very impressive how you have adapted the concept of muggle television to the wizarding world.

**Luna** : Thank you! I have to admit, at first I was worried a wizarding video camera would interfere with the natural mating cycles of nargles but they seem to be adapting just fine.

**Hermione** : …glad to hear it.

**Luna** : So, as you know, we've asked our readers to provide questions, so let's just get on with it! From Professor McGonagall: What the *bleep* happened at the final battle?

**Hermione** (mumbling): Did she actually _say_ bleep?

**Draco** : It's quite simple really, after Harry Potter killed Voldemort, the first evil, who had just lost its foothold on the Sunnydale hellmouth, was able to possess Voldemort. Luckily, or unluckily depending on your point of view, there is also a hellmouth in the forbidden forest, so Hermione and Buffy were able apparate through the wards. Then, Hermione, with the help of the other new witches who happen to also be slayers, used their Patronuses – Patroni? – anyways, they evicted the first evil from our Earth.

**Luna** : Yes, that does seem quite simple. But just in case some of our viewers didn't quite…follow. Perhaps you can start by telling us who Buffy is.

**Draco:** Buffy is my sister.

**Luna:** But…you don't have a sister

**Draco** (with an eye roll): Yes, I do. Buffy is a squib. We made the wizarding world believe she was had died since we did not want Voldemort 1.0 to kill her/us.

**Luna:** Well, after Voldemort 1.0 as you call him – great name by the way – vanished in 1981, why didn't you all bring her 'back' so to speak?

**Draco:** She was a potential Vampire Slayer. We didn't trust the greater wizarding population.

**Luna:** So I think the question most of our audience wants to know is – why does Buffy have an American accent?

**Draco:** My parents raised her in America.

**Luna** : That does seem to be a fairly logical answer.

**Draco** : Indeed

**Luna:** So, Hermione, tell me, where do you fit in to all of this?

**Hermione:** Oh well, a little over 3 years ago I was chosen as a Vampire Slayer

**Luna:** And how did you and Draco become – involved? We all saw that juicy kiss right before Draco was arrested.

**Hermione** (blushing) **:** Ah, hmm, well. Let's see. Draco figured out I was a slayer and helped to train me and connected me with his sister and her watcher. And overtime we just…connected.

**Luna:** Fascinating. Perhaps this is a good time to ask – since I'm sure out viewers are quite confused, what is a vampire slayer, and why there are so many now?

**Hermione** (looking much more comfortable now): Thank you for asking Luna! A vampire slayer a girl imbued with the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons and the forces of darkness. Witches and wizards used to believe she was intrinsically wrong but this was simply a medieval misconception that was never corrected. At one point, there could only be one, but then Buffy was revived from death using a muggle procedure called "CPR". Her death however had already activated a second slayer, thus there were two slayers. In their fight against the first evil, Buffy and her friend Willow activated _all_ slayers.

**Luna** : Thank you for the robust explanation. I have to say, as one of the new slayers, it is quite invigorating.

**Hermione** : …yes?

**Luna:** So the next question is from Neville Longbottom - it is for Draco. Neville asks: If you have been fighting for good this whole time why are you such a dick?

**Draco** (rolling his eyes): My goal was to always ensure Buffy's safety. That meant ensuring no one doubted the persona that was expected of me. So I acted as the quintessential bully and really, did _anyone_ think for a second I could have been a good guy?

**Luna:** On behalf of the students at Hogwarts you bullied, you really did quite well.

**Draco** : Thank you

**Hermione:** I don't think that was meant to be a compliment

**Draco** : I'll take it as one anyways

**Luna** : This question comes from Ginny Weasley and is again for Draco: If you and your parents _aren't_ evil then why did you put Voldemort's evil diary into my school things leading to the Chamber of Secrets being opened?

**Draco** (rolling his eyes…again) **:** We didn't. My father placed a very dark journal in a basket of the Weasleys books at Flourish and Blotts obviously assuming that one of the Weasleys would be able to identify it as a dark object and deal with it.

**Luna** : Very interesting. Our next question comes from Severus Snape: What the *bleep* was the deal with you killing Dumbledore?

**Draco:** I was ordered by Voldemort to kill Dumbledore in my 6th year. I wasn't planning to _actually_ do it though. However, the night in question, he was dying. We had a conversation, that Potter has already confirmed the authenticity of, and Dumbledore agreed that he would prefer to go peacefully in that moment.

**Luna** : Sounds quite emotional. I can only imagine the Wrackspurts you must have dealt with at the time.

**Draco:** …of course.

**Luna** : On a related question, from Harry Potter: What did you whisper to Dumbledore right before he died?

**Draco** (whispering to Hermione): Why are all your friends using this interview to ask me questions?

**Hermione** (whispering back to Draco): Cause you're an ass.

**Draco** (after shrugging in agreement): I told him "Ariana forgives you."

**Luna** : … what does that mean?

**Draco:** None of Potter's business?

**Luna:** Right… so moving along. I'm running out of time but most of our readers want to know what's next for the two of you.

**Hermione** : What a great question! Thank you for asking. I am excited to be the formal liaison between the New Watcher's Council and the International Wizarding Federation. We're really hoping to leverage all types of magic to allow slayers to live the longest, fullest lives possible.

**Draco** : I've been asked to teach a new course at Hogwarts on Wiccan magic.

**Luna** : Well thank you for those answers. But I believe our readers were wondering what's going to happen to the 2 of you as a couple.

**Draco:** …

**Hermione:** …

**Draco:** Er – we don't know.

**Hermione:** Yes. I mean, it will be nice for our lives to be out in the open but – we're 18. And we both have important roles ahead, who knows what will come.

**Luna:** Well, there you have it! Straight from the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks mouth as they say. We'll be back next week where I'll interview myself on what it's like to be a witch slayer.

**Draco** : You mean a witch who happens to also be a slayer

**Hermione** (to Draco): That's never going to catch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap - thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed this!


End file.
